Lost and Found
by Fizzlemcschnizzle
Summary: "If you love somebody, let them go, for if they return, they were always yours. If they don't, they never were." -Kahlil Gibran. Seemingly overnight, Hiccup had become a hero when he befriended a dragon. He threw away everything he ever had, and gained everything he never knew he always wanted. However, the most important things in life can sometimes hide in plain sight.
1. Taken

If you love somebody, let them go, for if they return, they were always yours. If they don't, they never were."  
–Kahlil Gibran

Seemingly overnight, Hiccup had become a hero when he befriended a dragon. He threw away everything he ever had, and gained everything he never knew he always wanted. However, the most important things in life sometimes become lost by hiding in plain sight.

 **A/N:  
** _Hey, FizzleMcSchnizzle, will you write a story on HTTYD 2?  
_ – _No.  
Fizz, write a story on HTTYD 2.  
_– _I don't wanna.  
Fizzy Wizzy, I really like that one story you wrote.  
_– _Thanks!  
And you should totally write a HTTYD 2 story.  
_– _I said-  
Yo Fizz-  
_– _Fine!_

At least, that's about how I _think_ it went. I actually had some ideas knocking around in my head ever since I finished my first story, Dragon Whisperer, for a HTTYD 2 story with my telepathic dragons shenanigans. I just never really felt all that motivated to write a story on it because, well, I hope this doesn't make us enemies, and excuse me while I hold up a riot shield, but I didn't really like the 2nd movie.

Now, don't get me wrong, it was a fun movie with great graphics and cute and adorable Toothless being all cute and adorable. However, the plot was… well, too many ideas only half-baked and poorly implemented. "Oh, gee, what's-his-face died. I am totally crying tears of sadness because I had developed such strong sympathy for him yeah not really. Oh no, that one other dude died. It's a good thing I saw the first movie; otherwise, I wouldn't know I'm supposed to care."

So, I got some ideas to flesh out some of the plot elements the movie sorta glazed over.

Oh, and show some love for Colorful Crayola. She's beta-reading my story for me. If this is looking a bit more polished than usual then we have her to thank for that.

 **Obligatory Disclaimer:  
** I don't own HTTYD. In fact, nobody does because Toothless has no master!

* * *

 **Taken**

A dragon soared through open sky, above the snow and clouds. He reveled in the thrill of flight that never faded, in the crispness of the cold air that he breathed in deep, the way his black scales luxuriated and basked in the warmth of the bright ball of fire above, the gentle caress of the icy wind across his sleek body and under his broad wings. Everything was exactly as it should be. Everything was _perfect_!

RAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

Except his rider, of course, his poor little Firefly, who was roaring in frustration. This land-strider never was one to dream small. He had heard of some sort of new threat moving into this area, something about some land-strider warlord who was supposedly amassing a large flock of dragons to fight for him as he conquered the world.

Of course, as a dragon, Toothless thought nothing of it. Land-striders, being masters of drama, have always done this sort of thing, gathering under one alpha, adding to their pack and killing those who would not submit. The part about amassing a flock of enthralled dragons was new, though.

Firefly's sire came to the obvious conclusion that wiping out this threat would be a good idea. Hunt, strike, kill. Simplicity itself! However, it was no surprise that Firefly vehemently disagreed. He was always a strange one, the poor thing. In spite of what others did around him, he had always been the one to find a more peaceful solution. When others bared their teeth, he would present tribute. When others growled, he crooned. When others fought, he asserted himself into the middle of it all and, well…

Toothless shook his head. It always drove him crazy how his precious rider, his little Firefly, would always risk his own life for the benefit of others, including his enemies, for no other reason than "it just felt right". Toothless would feel his heart plunge into his bowels whenever his Firefly rushed headlong into mortal danger, leaving his dragon to frantically claw his way to save him.

It was always so tempting to chide little Firefly for taking foolish risks to try to be everyone's friend. After all, everyone knew that any dragon who refused to crack his own egg would die trapped inside. Obstacles needed to be broken down until they no longer presented a threat. It was the way of nature to meet opposition with aggressive force.

Firefly, though, was nothing like that at all. Were he trapped inside an egg, Toothless was convinced he would somehow befriend the egg, convince it to allow him out, then make it his stout ally in overcoming some even greater obstacle.

As silly as that sounded, even to Toothless, that was simply what Firefly _always_ did. He stood up for the very dragon all of his kind hated the most. He showed kindness and compassion to a dragon for whom such concepts were foreign and strange. He brought dragons and land-striders together by taking uncountable risks of unfathomable magnitudes to end a seemingly unending war of attrition. If it wasn't for that very same drive that Firefly had to befriend his enemies, the one that always drove Toothless crazy with worry, dragons would still be enthralled by a demonic queen, groveling as mindless fodder and fetchers of food.

Consequently, Toothless felt helpless to even passively hint at Firefly to change his ways. It was as if Firefly had voices whispering in his mind, telling him that taking some foolish risk would give him the ultimate victory that nobody could have ever seen coming.

Firefly rambled some reassurance that he would keep his dragon safe in all this, and Toothless warbled his appreciation. Of course, he didn't understand the nasally singsong sounds land-striders made as they thought with their lips. The way landstriders communicated by thinking with their lips was something dragons found amusing and pointless, like a deer with a broken leg trying to flee from a threat. Fortunately, though most land-striders didn't even know it, they would project their thoughts whenever they spoke. It usually came across as a muddy spattering, but Firefly's practice had paid off so that his thought projections were so clear and well-formed that one would almost think him to be a dragon.

As Toothless idly sifted through the thoughts his rider was projecting, it was clear that he was still going on about this land-strider warlord, rambling on and on in that nasally singsong way that passed for communication among land-striders.

Beyond the focused projected thoughts about his rider's rambling worries about his sire and this land-strider warlord, Toothless could feel his rider's passive hum. It was a background noise that all living creatures projected, and Firefly's hum had the acerbic tang of worry and doubt. Oh, sure, Firefly attempted to exude confidence, but Toothless was not so easily deceived. Inside, the rider was uncertain. He didn't know where to start or what to do in dealing with this new threat and it rankled him to the core.

Toothless was about to respond to his rider for such pointless worrying - an obnoxious yawn or a light slap to the face with one of his sensor lobes seemed appropriate - but he gave a startled yelp as something to the side caught his eye. At first, it looked like the horns on those spike-tailed bipedal dragons, or deadly adders as the land-striders called them. However, as this _something_ rose from the bank of clouds, he could recognize it must have been a land-strider.

It - no, definitely female based on the subtle undertones in her passive hum - lurched up to reveal a dragon on which she stood. The dragon swooped in front of Toothless to cut him off and he had to backwing to avoid a collision. He took a moment to fly in place – a tiring task for almost any dragon – to closely examine these interlopers.

The land-strider was wearing what appeared to be carapace plates and spikes from various dragons. She carried some sort of stick that curved sharply at both ends into a hook. The dragon on which she stood was much larger than Toothless, with a head that rotated like an owl's, golden scales around a silver belly, two legs instead of four, and four wings instead of two. Confusingly enough, both this strange dragon and his… rider… were clearly radiating sympathy and concern.

Firefly was trying to talk to the strange dragon rider in that nasally sing-gone way land-striders used to communicate. His heart leaped into his throat at the thought that he may have actually found the world-conquering warlord with the enthralled dragons. However, she made no response.

Toothless knew that if he was going to get any useful information, it would be from the dragon she rode. As opposed to land-striders, who have developed a clumsy way to communicate vocally, dragons could simply project their raw thoughts and feelings to those nearby. Understanding could be imparted almost instantly.

Fortunately, this strange dragon did have some thoughts to project to Toothless. _{Be calm, black dragon. We are here to help. My name is Cloud Jumper and my rider is known as Dragon Savior. She and I are dedicated to freeing trapped and enslaved dragons. Your subjugation to that land-strider on your back ends now. Do not move, and trust us to help you.}_

Toothless wasn't sure what that was supposed to mean. He was not trapped or enslaved. What absurd nonsense this silly dragon was spewing forth!

WHUMP!

Something slammed into Toothless from below. He could feel Firefly fly off his back, but the tethers held him close. Toothless looked up to see the foreign land-strider, Dragon Savior as her dragon called her, leaping over. She cut Firefly's tethers with a quick flash of her shiny claw, grabbed him, and jumped off and onto her dragon, allowing someone else to grab Firefly in his talons.

Toothless shrieked in indignant anger. How dare she! And her dragon was allowing this?!

She was no savior. No, she was a monster! A demon! A repulsive beast!

Cloud Jumper thought otherwise. _{You are free now, black dragon. Fly and be free!}_

Toothless glared and ripped a venomous snarl from his throat, which gave way to a surprised yelp as he tilted left against his will. He had lost one of the two fins on his tail earlier in life, and they were critical to maintain a stable flight. Firefly had somehow fabricated a replacement, but he needed to ride Toothless to make it work. Without his Firefly, Toothless quickly lost control..

He started to plummet, both physically and emotionally, lost in shock and grief. His rider had been taken, he couldn't fly, and they were surrounded by so many dragons that all seemed to be following the lead of this demonic land-strider.

This was inexcusable! He loathed himself for not having seen this coming. The lobes crowning his head were tightly packed webs of corded nerves encased in scaly hide, and they allowed him to pinpoint the position of any dragon or land-strider in the remote area by tracking the origin of their thought projections. Even noticing just the passive emotional hum would have been enough to see the hostiles coming despite the cloud cover. Toothless growled at his own failure to maintain focus and notice their approach.

He shook the doubt out of his mind and let rage wash over. He had almost forgotten that he could still fly. Firefly had done something to the tailfin that involved a twisted piece of iron that wanted to untwist but could not unless Firefly lifted his foot off the thing that normally controlled the tailfin-

Whatever! Toothless didn't care how it worked so long as it did. He flicked his tail and heard the telltale clicks of the fin engaging in the neutral position. It would limit his agility, but he would be able to fly. It was enough. It _had_ to be enough.

Toothless saw only red. He screeched his anger as he thrust his wings hard to catch up. _{Release my Firefly NOW or I will kill you!}_

Confusion swept through the whole flock of dragons. This clearly was not the anticipated response.

He snarled in contempt. What, did they think he would just capitulate? Did they think they could take whatever they wanted without consequence? Did they really believe Toothless would just _abandon_ his precious Firefly?

Oh, the painful lesson they were about to learn!

Toothless caught up to the rear of the flock. He dug his claws into the tail of a dragon and used the traction to lurch forward, springing off its head to gain more speed, ignoring the pathetic creature's pained cry.

Toothless just gave a derisive snort. _{Be grateful I am not taking the time to kill you for flying between me and MY Firefly!}_

He thrust his wings hard and caught another dragon in flight, springing off her and towards the next, closer to Firefly. However, the dragon lurched to the side and Toothless couldn't reach with his claws. Out of desperation, he bit down hard on whatever he could, which happened to be the dragon's wing. He hauled himself in to slide over to the torso and leap off to the next dragon.

His latest victim shrieked in pain and started to fall with a lame wing. Two other dragons dropped down to catch her, struggling with their added burden to not lag too far behind the rest of the flock.

That brought an idea to mind. The dragon that Toothless was currently clinging onto gulped and looked back at his baleful expression.

Again, one bite to the wing took three dragons down. Toothless felt no remorse for those who made the mistake of placing themselves between him and his precious rider. They would all know regret!

Toothless jumped from dragon to dragon, clawing and biting. They tried to evade or fight back, but they were all large, ungainly, over-muscled beasts. He was a wasp buzzing around a bear, a lynx striking out at its ponderous prey. He knew he couldn't keep up this pace for long, but explosive bursts of energy were where he excelled.

The whole flock was in a state of bewilderment. They tried to fight back but could not keep up with Toothless. Lightning was his name and fury was his game. Firefly was his goal and they would regret being in his way!

He made one last leap to the dragon holding his precious Firefly but something slammed into him from the side. Toothless found himself in the clutches of that large owl-headed dragon, Cloud Jumper, who was flying him farther and farther away from his rider.

Oh, that was a mistake.

That was a _big_ mistake!

Toothless gathered fuel in his mouth. His signature banshee shriek sounded out as the highly-volatile mass formed and congealed. Cloud Jumper released Toothless and tried to fly away, but it was too late. Toothless released his fire and curled up into a tight ball to reduce the impact to himself.

The fireball destabilized almost immediately after its release, just as intended, and exploded with concussive force, shoving dragons in all directions. One was knocked unconscious and limply plummeted. Two others sprained their wings from the force and fell. Dragons from the other group surged back to save them from drowning in the unforgiving waters below.

Toothless took a moment to purr with satisfaction. He would have made the fireball larger if he wasn't in such a hurry.

Uncurling himself, he saw that his fireball had knocked the demonic land-strider off her dragon's back. Cloud Jumper howled angrily as he tried to recover his flight, but Toothless was faster. He grappled onto Cloud Jumper's neck, leaped to the rear of his torso, and jumped off to snatch the demonic land-strider from her fall.

Toothless merely chuffed at the other dragon's sudden fury at this injustice to his rider. _{Cloud Jumper, return my rider to me and I will do likewise for you. If you do not comply immediately then I will bite off her head!}_

 _{TOOTHLESS, STOP! STOP NOW! PLEASE!}_

Toothless's eyes widened. It was not Cloud Jumper who projected that desperate plea, nor the demonic land-strider or any of the dragons in this flock. It was Firefly. Toothless looked over at his rider who was still clutched in a hostile dragon's talons, fervently pleading for Toothless to stop.

His rage instantly whiffed away and he stared at Firefly, trying to comprehend why he was so insistent on halting this rescue.

He then glanced ahead, where Firefly was frantically gesturing, and saw a massive wall of ice. A couple frantic thrusts of his wings slowed him enough to make the impact bearable. He bounced off and ended up falling into a tunnel.

The rest was lost when he smacked his head into a rock and blacked out.


	2. Interrogated

**Interrogated**

Dragon Savior carefully picked herself up and inspected her battered body. She could feel that her cheek was bruised, but it would have been much worse without the helmet, which now had a fault line running up and down.

The rest of her armor was holding up well enough, which she had become quite proficient in building, repairing, and rebuilding again from the carapace plates and scales dragons naturally shed. She especially favored the brown and teal motif that blended in fairly well in most environments. The helmet, of course, had to have long spines jutting out of it to be more relatable to the dragons.

The crash wasn't too bad. The tunnel wall she slammed into sloped at the bottom, so the fall to the ground was more like a rapid slide down the wall. In times past, she had left people staring in slack-jawed wonder at worse blows that she shrugged off, thanks to how she always designed her armor to break apart on impact so as to spare her body from such a fate.

At her feet lay the unconscious troublemaker himself, the black dragon. Well, that was what all the dragons called his kind. The humans called them Night Furies. He was unconscious but still breathing.

A quick visual inspection confirmed that he didn't seem to have endured any substantial injuries. The same, however, could not be said for some of the victims of his rage. They had varying degrees of torn wing membranes, sprained sockets, and minor breaks. However, as Dragon Savior knew quite well, nothing in this world recovers as quickly as a dragon's injured wing. A Viking's pride after an inordinate amount of ale takes a close second place.

Cloudjumper, who had immediately rushed to Dragon Savior's side, was still struggling to come to terms with why things played out the way they had. Nothing like this had ever occurred before. There should have been no way this could have happened.

Dragon Savior was in agreement there. She had come to know her flock and the nature of dragons in general from interactions in past years. Many years ago, she had learned that she could hear dragons. Well, not hear so much as… perceive their thoughts that they chose to project. It took a lot of practice to reliably hear them and it was only through contact, but she had learned the wordless ways in which dragons conveyed images, sounds, feelings, and anything else between the ears. It was always awe-inspiring to revel in just how quickly a dragon could communicate anything and everything in the blink of an eye.

The way dragons communicate has always fascinated Dragon Savior. Something as simple as a name to refer to another dragon, for example, wasn't actually a name as a human would think of it, but a verbose amalgamation of all the impressions the one dragon associates with the other. A dragon may commonly refer to Cloudjumper as: Large, Four-Winged Dragon with an Owl-Like Head and Golden Scales and Four Wings Who Came from the Demonic Queen's Nest and Was Very Fortunate to Have Escaped with His Life and Has That Land-Strider as a Rider Who Works as a Team to Coordinate All of Us Dragons in Organized Raids to Attack Dragon-Trapping Land-Striders to Free Captured Dragons Why Must These Land-Striders Be so Cruel but at Least Yours Is Nice.

Cloudjumper was very accommodating in accepting a name that rolled off the tongue a little more easily.

Dragons, of course, having been designed to communicate like this, could hear another's projections as far away as a growl could be heard. As such, they were always quite like-minded in any situation. Dragon Savior never had trouble with captured or enslaved dragons causing trouble while being rescued due to any misunderstanding. They knew they were caught in a bad way. In a single instant, Cloudjumper and the rest of the flock would explain why the captured dragons needed to cooperate and how they could do so. There was never any possibility for confusion or miscommunication when it came to dragons.

That, of course, was why she and her flock were so thoroughly bewildered when the black dragon did what he did. It was painfully obvious he was enslaved and used as a beast of burden. He had a tailfin cut off and was clearly dependant on his rider to fly far at all. Crippling a slave's mobility was something people used on humans and dragons alike. Why, then, did this dragon refuse to be rescued? Why did he lash out so vehemently when he was liberated from his slave driver?

There could be no way his mind was being directly manipulated, not so close to the nest for sure. Then again, maybe Drago's alchemists have formulated some concoction to brainwash dragons? Hopefully not. Such implications would be horrendous beyond measure!

Regardless, this rider of the Night Fury was clearly one of Drago's lackeys. Drago has become more and more of a nuisance in this area and Dragon Savior's daily efforts to rescue trapped dragons was nowhere near enough to keep up with the rate at which they were trapped.

Dragon Savior glared at Drago's lackey through the eye slits in her helmet. He stood where he was set down, surrounded by dragons, calmly awaiting his interrogation. He was dressed in all black leather and was pacifying them with a wordless and showy display of fire using some sort of hand-held mechanism… a flaming sword?

Maybe he was Drago's senior ringleader for how experienced he was in this. Well, not a senior for sure. Maybe late-teens?

Dragon Savior slammed her staff on the ground to get the lackey's attention. He jerked his eyes up at her with a scowl, then his face slid into worry as he looked past her at his unconscious mount.

"Who… are you?" he asked. "The dragon thief?"

Dragon Savior snorted derisively. Of course Drago's lackeys would spread such lies that she was "stealing" dragons when she was actually freeing them from the ones who captured them in the first place. How could one call it "stealing" when many of these freed dragons practically begged to come back to her nest? Anyone who would really believe such a lie was a fool! Anyone who would spread such a lie was beneath the insects.

"Uh, Drago… Bludvist?" the lackey asked as he scratched his head. "Do you even understand what I'm saying?"

Dragon Savior snarled and Lackey took a half-step back and held up placating hands. She was in no mood to patiently wait out him playing ignorant; it would not save him from this interrogation.

The scraping of claws on ice could be heard from behind and Dragon Savior spun on her heels. The black dragon grunted as he took one quick look around and surged forward. CloudJumper instantly swept a wing to push Dragon Savior out of harm's way, thank the egg that hatched him. Having been denied his target, the black dragon gave a half flap of his wings to extend his pounce to land directly on Lackey.

What proceeded was something neither Dragon Savior nor anyone in her flock had ever seen before. The black dragon pounced on his rider, curling his wings to roll around on the ground, and ended up on his back, gently pawing at his rider and purring.

That lasted only a moment before he instantly flipped to all fours and growled defensively. _{I am Toothless and this is my Firefly. If you try to take him again, I will kill you.}_

That was the black dragon. Dragon Savior expressed a wordless gratitude to Cloudjumper for acting as a relay so she could hear through contact with him.

She closed her eyes and focused on projecting out to the black dragon, something that had become easy after so many years of practice. _{Be at peace, Toothless. I am Dragon Savior and you can ask my flock why my name is well-earned. Our only intent was to liberate you from your captor. We only wanted to free you. You must be very confused. Nobody will prevent you from leaving but please stay. Let us understand one another. Besides, you've hurt your head from the landing. Stay until you've healed up. Allow us to help you.}_

 _{Firefly, we should leave now!}_ the black dragon insisted.

Lackey shook his head and said, "No, wait, we need to dig a little deeper. Yes, I know you don't like it here, but…" He sighed. "I just really think we should stay. I don't know why, it just-"

The black dragon snorted. _{It just feels like the right thing to do. I_ hate _it when you say that.}_

Lackey grinned mischievously at his dragon. "You could always pick me up and fly us off."

 _{You jest, of course. I could never bring myself to do something like that and you know it. Fine, you do your Firefly thing and I will be here to kill anyone who would dare to touch you.}_

Dragon Savior sucked in a shaky breath. _{Cloudjumper, is it just my imagination or can he really hear dragons?}_

The lackey froze with a wide-eyed stare that matched the Dragon Savior's under her helmet. "You're a dragon whisperer, too?" he asked.

Dragon Savior's mind was spinning. Drago's lackey could hear dragons? How could he remain loyal to Drago? He _must_ undoubtedly understand that dragons are more than just simple animals... right? And by the egg that hatched the dragon king, why was the black dragon so loyal and protective toward this person?! Why was he growling warningly and wrapping his tail around the lackey?!

Dragon Savior had to find out. She had to know. This would not be the usual interrogation she had conducted with Drago's other lackeys in times past to learn the locations of dragon hunter bases. Still, it would be a good idea to start things out in the usual way. She shook her staff and projected a silent request for some light. All around, dozens of dragons opened their maws wide and filled them with slow-burning fires. A warm orange glow bathed the cavern in which they stood.

However, unlike the rest of Drago's lackeys, instead of confusion and terror, this display only brought a look of awe and joy to his face.

Dragon Savior crouched down low and slid her shield and staff to the ground. She made sure to avoid eye contact as she half slithered, half crawled toward them on her fingers and toes. The growling from the black dragon intensified a little, but she did not relent, focusing on projecting a constant stream of calm reassurances of peaceful intentions for the dragon's sake.

As she came within a couple steps of them, she rose a little but kept her posture stooped below them. The dragon clearly was of the mind to knock her aside, grab his rider, and fly off. However, it was obvious from his posturing, eye contact with his rider, and the little bits of his primal emotions she could pick up that he was holding himself back for Lackey's sake.

Dragon Savior rose a little more and raised a hand toward Lackey. It was a gesture she always used with dragons to show her peaceful intentions. Humans always had an amusing reaction to lean back, unsure of the situation, and Lackey was no exception.

At a loss of any intelligent response, he mumbled, "Uh… Uhhhhh…"

Then she saw it. Her breath caught in her throat. That scar on his chin… she saw it before. She knew this boy! There was absolutely no room for doubt, but her mind still whirled at the very notion.

It couldn't be! How could it be?! This had to be a dream, but it wasn't!

Dragon Savior croaked out, "How?" She slowly pulled her head out of her helmet and shook her shoulder-length auburn hair loose. Standing to full height, she said, "After… all… years. How… How?"

Internally, she winced. Twenty years living with the dragons did not do wonders at helping her retain her verbal language skills. Her only spoken conversations were with the occasional dragon trapper she had interrogated to make them tell her where to go to find and free the dragons. She could understand spoken language quite well enough, but her ability to speak had noticeably atrophied. Raising her voice and growling at them never helped to be understood, though it often evoked amusing reactions.

The lackey stared in confusion. No, not Drago's lackey. Hiccup! She had no doubt. There was no other way to explain that very distinct scar peeking through the stubble on his chin!

But, he would never work for Drago, right? Maybe he was threatened and forced to capitulate? Maybe…

She eyed Hiccup from head to toe and inhaled sharply when her eyes saw his left leg. It tore her heart to shreds. The poor thing had a part of his leg amputated at the shin and he stood on a prosthetic. Slave owners commonly did that to their slaves to make it easier to identify and recapture them if they manage to flee.

Dragon Savior couldn't stand the thought. She felt a trickle of blood from her fingernails biting into her palm. Her whole frame quivered with rage for what Drago did to Hiccup.

All she could do was point to his leg and shriek, "How?!"

The boy cringed at the shrill outburst, but he recovered and simply shrugged nonchalantly. "Occupational hazard. Don't worry about it. Allow me to introduce myself," he said with a genuine smile. "My name is-"

"Hiccup!" Dragon Savior shouted and rushed forward to embrace him. However, he recoiled back with a surprised gasp.

"Uh," Hiccup stuttered, ignorant of Dragon Savior's thoughts, "should I… know you?"

Dragon Savior slumped at the initial rejection. She honestly couldn't blame him for all the trauma he had been through.

"No, " she said, trying to buy some time to collect her wits. "You… hatchling. No, babe. You babe. I know."

She internally scolded herself. _Think!_ She told herself. _Think before you speak and speak like an actual human for flame's sake! This is your son and he needs to know he can trust you!_

Dragon Savior took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and said, "A mother never forgets."

* * *

 **A/N:  
** Thank you for reading and thank you Colorful Crayola for being my beta buddy! My thanks to Mariah and TheNaturalLlama3 for the kind words. I absolutely _love_ hearing feedback on my story, whether it's good, bad, or ugly. Oh, and in answer to your question, Mariah, there may be some OC. I want to stick to the movie plot with my usual shenanigans of taking my own route to the major milestones, but I don't think I would ever be forgiven if Tofa was completely ignored.

So, this whole part of the movie where Hiccup is captured and finds his mother really irked me. It made Valka look like a bit of a jerk for letting Toothless fall to the ice below and just leave him behind for some other dragon to haul him back. Besides, a spring-loaded bracket with a manual release was a common mechanism on any ship, so Hiccup would have naturally added something similar to the tailfin so Toothless could fly with a locked fin should Hiccup's foot be removed from the control lever.

I also didn't like the idea of Valka using some sort of Jedi mind trick to knock Toothless unconscious. I mean, sure, I included some sort of plausible telepathic mechanism in Ch 6 of Hookfang's Tale (#shamelessselfplug), but I'm an advocate of tough love and figured I'd show it to Toothless by smacking his head into a rock wall. Sorry, Mr. T. Please don't bite off my head.

Oh, and the instant acceptance between Hiccup and Valka in the movie felt quite contrived. "Hiccup?" "Oh, you're my Mom! Awesome! Let's go on adventures and stuff!" And then we go right to tongue petting and Toothless rolling onto his back to accept belly rubs from Valka? C'mon!

So, this is my rendition of how I envisioned such a confrontation.


	3. Lost

**Lost**

"AAAARGH!" Stoick, chief of the Hairy Hooligan tribe, shouted in frustration. "I'll _kill_ that boy! Is it really that hard to just stay put?"

He flicked a fold of his heavy coat aside and thumped the shoulder of his dragon, Skullcrusher. The dragon, who looked like a rhinoceros that wore thick carapace plates like plate mail armor, hardly acknowledged it with a light grunt.

"Say that three times _more_ , Stoick, and I bet he'll appear in front of your face."

Stoick glowered over at his wingman, Gobber. The old blacksmith's comically long, blond mustache flapped in the wind as they flew along. The dragon on which he rode, Grump, was as impassive as ever. The two looked like a matching pair for how bulbous they both were, though instead of having a wide belly, the bee-like body of the Hotburple dragon featured a massive head and spiked ball of a tail that often drooped during flight. Despite the fact that the dragon perpetually looked like he was on the verge of sleep, he was always awake and alert.

The snow, ice floes, rocky formations, and clouds that made up the scenery flew past. Stoick took a close look at one sea stack in particular that caught his attention. A few patches of grass crept out from between the cracks atop a stone pillar that twisted as it rose from the sea, like a rod of iron a blacksmith would heat up and twist into a corkscrew.

It was the same sea stack he had flown past before. Twice!

"Skullcrusher," Stoick said in a reprimanding tone.

The dragon continued to fly along as if he didn't hear, but Stoick knew better. The scalies never learned Norse and took zero interest in spoken or written communication, but Hiccup had explained that just the act of speaking throws out some sort of telepathic projections the dragons could understand. The boy said these projections are scattered and muddy to a dragon's ears - or mind, whatever - but could be made clearer through practice. It involved focusing on the image of what he was saying in detail. He had been working on this for the past few years and Hiccup told him the dragons confirmed he was much easier to understand.

"SKULLCRUSHER!" Stoick shouted in a bellow some have said could reach clear across the archipelago. The dragon winced. "Don't ignore me. Land here, please. We need to talk face to snout."

Skullcrusher angled down to land on top of the sea stack. Stoick jumped down heavily as Gobber and Grump lightly touched down.

The chief crossed his massive arms over his chest and said, "This is the third time we've passed this sea stack."

Skullcrusher shifted uneasily on his stout paws. Normally, he was the most fantastic dragon companion the chief could ever want: loyal, disciplined, focused, and not easily provoked. However, today, he has been reserved and hesitant to comply and Stoick had a strong suspicion why.

"Hiccup is out there!" Stoick hissed through his grinding teeth. "He and Toothless could be in trouble! They could have been captured or killed!" _Because he's reckless by habit and stubborn about staying that way_ , Stoick silently added.

The dragon paced back and forth, gesturing dramatically with a wing, rumbling and gurgling in what would have been, in any lighter situation, a comical attempt at imitating human speech.

"Ya gotta admit, Skull has a point," Gobber said, trying to lighten the mood. "Ya always suppress the boy so much he has yer boot prints all over him. Every time he flies out, yer always beside yerself with worry, but he always comes back."

Stoick knew he could be overbearing at times. He was the chief, an only father, and his only son was his only heir. Hiccup needed to be made ready to take over as chief of the tribe and that wouldn't happen all by itself. Stoick had to learn to be a good chief when his father lost his head to a Monstrous Nightmare and it was a very rough transition for himself and the village. So, he wanted to do things right and help Hiccup get established in his chiefly duties while his old man was still alive to advise and assist. That was what really irked Stoick about his son defying a direct order and flying off - there was a terrible feeling in his gut that this would not end well.

"This is _different_!" Stoick snapped as he rounded on Gobber. "Drago is out there. You haven't _seen_ him! You haven't seen his iron-clad _dragon army_! If Hiccup finds Drago before _we_ find _him_ …" he let that thought hang in the air.

Skullcrusher arched his back and growled his best attempt at a screech before shooting a glob of fire at a patch of empty rock.

Gobber chuckled at the sight. "Ach, Skull's right. _Nothing_ can hurt Hiccup so long as that Night Fury is around. He's a _Night Fury_!"

"You mean the one my son shot out of the sky on a dark night?"

"Umm, yeah, I suppose."

"The very same dragon I knocked out with a single punch?"

Skullcrusher snorted and stomped a paw on the ground.

" _After_ Hiccup made him not kill ya _first_ ," Gobber offered.

Stoick growled, "Gobber, are you a dragon whisperer?"

"Still nope. How 'bout you?"

"Then stop trying to tell me what Skullcrusher is trying to say!"

Gobber shrugged. "Yessir mister chief sir."

Turning back to his dragon, Stoick said, "Do you think it's worth the inconvenience to my son to grind into him the discipline he needs?"

The dragon stared at the ground.

"Do you really believe it is you who should be telling me how to raise my own son and when I should just," he rolled his eyes, "leave him alone?"

Skullcrusher's staring contest with the ground continued.

Stoick sighed. "Hiccup told me you and your comrades had a name for me, back when you were enslaved by the Red Death and forced to raid our village. You all just called me Beast. Why? Because, back then, of all the dragons who attacked Beast, only the luckiest few managed to flee before Beast killed them. Is that right?"

Skullcrusher huffed and gave the barest nod, a gesture that dragons on Berk quickly learned when their riders asked if they were hungry or wanted to go flying together. This was not bragging so much as a statement of fact. Stoick was the best dragon slayer of his time. He was tall, broad, strong, disciplined, and clever in battle. Slaying dragons was what he had breathed, drank, and ate since he was a child. Sure, the rumor that he popped a dragon's head off when he was a baby may not have been true - he was actually seven - but the smartest dragons that raided his village tried to avoid him whenever they realized who they were dealing with.

"Those times are past us, now," Gobber said quietly. Well, as quietly as he could and still be heard over the freezing arctic wind. "What are ya getting at?"

"The dragons feared me because I showed no fear," Stoick said. "They respected me because I was unstoppable. Skullcrusher," Stoick wrapped his meaty fingers around the horn at the end of the dragon's snout and looked into his eyes. "I. Fear. Drago. I can't help but respect him for how unstoppable he is. If you do not fear him, it is not because we are stronger. It's because you have _no_ idea what he is capable of doing."

Stoick knew the dragon was listening, analyzing, caught between clashing ideals. Skullcrusher took great pride and joy in being Stoick's companion, but he also couldn't help but love Hiccup too, who had flown with Toothless and killed the Red Death that had enthralled Skullcrusher for his whole life. Stoick knew that was why Skullcrusher was so hesitant to find Hiccup. The boy obviously wanted to get off on his own for a while and Skullcrusher wanted to respect that, but Stoick couldn't just let him go.

The Rumblehorn tried to avert his gaze, but Stoick shook his horned snout to draw his attention again. "Skullcrusher, I have one more question for you. If Hiccup came to harm because you wanted to leave him alone, would you feel regret?"

Skullcrusher lowered his head.

"Give me an answer, please. Yes or no."

The dragon bobbed his head up and down.

"Skullcrusher, I don't have wings. I need you. You know this is not the way to go to find Hiccup."

It wasn't a question, but a statement. Still, the dragon ducked his head.

"You know where to pick up the trail again to find Hiccup."

Again, another objective fact. Aside from being stout and sturdy, Skullcrusher was an amazing tracking dragon with his massive nostrils that could pick up any trail over land, water, or air. Aside from that, he had strong telepathic senses, similar to Toothless, though lesser in magnitude, to reach out and find others from far away. It was a great blessing for which Stoick could never thank his dragon enough. Once the people of Berk had learned that any ill-conceived act would leave behind scent trails and other clues that Skullcrusher could discern, troublemakers suddenly became quite agreeable.

Skullcrusher gave another coy nod. Hiccup had explained that dragons could never lie. Imagination simply wasn't something their minds were capable of, and so likewise with deceit. If Skullcrusher indicated he could find the trail again, there was no doubting his integrity.

"Then help me find my boy and his dear dragon before they find a madman who would shoot them down, cut off their heads, and piss on their dead bodies."

Skullcrusher whined and howled as he thrashed around. It was harsh, sure - for the boy's father more than Skullcrusher - but it elicited the intended response. The dragon settled down and flicked his head to indicate he wanted Stoick to mount up. However, as he pawed at the edge of the sea stack, he flopped his wings as if they were too heavy to lift.

"Bah!" Stoick grunted as he slapped the beast's heavily armored head. "If you're tired, it's your own bloody fault for flying in circles all gods-damned day long. Now, let's go find Hiccup!"

With that, Skullcrusher took off with purpose, in a new direction. The _right_ direction.

Still, he was gliding a lot more than actively flapping his wings. He wasn't going fast enough.

Stoick called out behind him, "Grump! I'll give you half your weight in fish to eat when we get back home if you can manage to bite Skullcrusher's tail."

A rumble sounded from behind and Skullcrusher suddenly surged forward. Stoick smiled.

 _Now_ he was flying fast enough.

########

* * *

########

"Eret!" Unn called as he crested the stairs to the main deck of the ship.

"Ah! Unn, report." Eret said as he gave a yank on a rope to trim a sail.

A gust of wind caused Eret to shiver in his sleeveless vest. Unn inwardly rolled his eyes, though he would never do so outwardly to his egotistical captain. That man absolutely refused to cover up his arms no matter how cold it was up here in this frozen, gods-forsaken place. Whenever they hit a village port, Eret would always strut around until he found some girls to swoon over his iron calves, tight abs, and broad shoulders. Gods forbid that man cover his biceps so he doesn't catch a cold.

Not that Unn was jealous. At all.

Unn had the sense to dress more appropriately. Even though he had a healthy layer of… insulation… under his skin, he wisely wore a heavy, fur-lined parka and hood. After all, being the shorty of the crew, he didn't have a whole lot of body mass to hold in the heat. Should his captain catch a cold, he would be ready to keep things moving as the first mate.

"Well…" Unn faltered.

"Well, what?!" Eret snapped irritably.

"We still have fifteen bola shots. The starboard ballista needs minor repairs to the firing mechanism from when that Deadly Nadder used it as a springboard. The Hooligans dismantled the cage doors, but we can still cobble together something to contain any dragons we catch-"

"And the eggs?" Eret asked. "Do we at least still have _those_?"

Unn drooped and took a step back.

Eret snorted, pacing and flailing his arms in frustration. "First, the dragon thief and his ice-spitting leviathan dragon, then this… this… _Hiccup_ and his _Night Fury_! _Then_ a whole gods-damned army of dragon riders tears my mainsail, wrecks my ballistae, and takes my eggs! These bloody Northerners and their pet dragons will be the death of me! I worked _so hard_ to collect those dragons and eggs!"

 _We worked so hard_ , Unn silently corrected. They actually had a good number of dragons in the cages below. _Had_ , being the operative word. Then, while the sun was still chasing away the darkness of night, the cursed dragon thief and her pet dragons swooped in and freed them all. They almost caught that thieving demon, but a massive leviathan of an ice-spitting sea dragon erupted from the waves and blasted the whole place to bits before they all flew or swam off.

As if _that_ wasn't bad enough, the arrival of a pair of dragon riders dropped in and managed to escape only to return with a lot of friends.

That was the most confusing part. Sure, that dragon thief with the weird spikey helmet was a known nuisance, but these Hooligans on dragon back were news for sure. Drago would want to hear about this. He would probably even overlook an empty dragon shipment to gain such intelligence.

After all, Drago alone was supposed to control all the dragons. He was a storm that would consume the whole world with fire, so it was best to be seen by him as a useful ally than someone in his way.

Under Drago, they would all force even the strongest nations to their knees. The world would be theirs to plunder. The riches of Rome, the spices from far-flung nations, the silks from the East, all of it would be theirs. However, if these Hooligans had a similarly formidable dragon army and a similarly capable dragon master who could break the scaley beasts' spirits and subdue them, then that would spell bad news for Drago.

 _Hmmm_ , Unn wondered, _who would pay more?_

Noam, the helmsman who looked like the perfect fit for fisticuff-style interrogations, asked, "So, what now? Do we tell… Drago..." He faltered under Eret's withering glare.

Eret idly ran a finger across a large brand he received on his chest, courtesy of Drago when his last dragon shipment quota was not met. It was a reminder to Unn of why he was glad to be just the first mate and not the captain of this dragon trapping crew.

" _We_ have _nothing_!" Eret shouted in frustration. "Do you understand that?! We cannot go to Drago empty-handed!"

"So, what then, cap? Skull Island?" Unn asked. "We got that Timberjack and Gronckle there. We could get more still. Do we go back?"

Eret paced in frustration. "Of course! We've nowhere else to go. Nothing to sell. And no heads to call our own. If we don't turn up with dragons, and _fast_ -"

Unn gaped at something behind Eret. All he could think was, _Not them! Not again!_

Eret was about to ask what in frozen Hel everyone was gawking at when he suddenly wasn't on his ship anymore. Something wrapped around his shoulders as the ship, along with the sea on which it sailed, dropped away, just like his stomach.

Unn and the rest of the crew stared up at the quickly departing dragons and their airborne captain. The winds carried back Eret's panicked shout and the taunt of a female rider shouting, "Careful what you wish for!"

Quartermaster Tinni scrambled and shot a bola from the remaining good ballista, but it was no surprise that he missed with the head start the departing dragon had.

"So, ummm… " Noam said, "What now, uhh, acting captain?"

Unn flicked a glance. "I'd wager heavily that they'll force him to take them to Drago."

"Ha!" Noam guffawed. "Their own doom. Ours too if we go there empty-handed. I don't think Drago will be content with just giving the captain a brand to the chest again and sending us off."

Unn nodded. Noam was right. "Who wants to check out the competition?"

* * *

 **A/N:  
** Thanks for reading! And thank you ColorfulCrayola for being my Beta Buddy!

I'd like to thank TheNaturalLama3, toothlessgolfer (I actually did a little sketch on Toothless in a game of golf a while back), and Dragonrider's Fury for your feedback. Seeing a review, regardless of whether it's pointing out what I did right or wrong, always brings a smile to my face!

Also, thank you 10Blue10 for letting me use the names of Noam and Tinni from your Heart Bound series.


	4. Discovered

**Discovered**

"A mother never forgets."

Hiccup sucked in a breath of air and backed away in shock. She, his mother? He, her son? No! It… it couldn't be. Impossible!

Then again, it was just one more mystery to add to the pile. This whole day was a parade of impossible or unwanted revelations. It all started with Stoick saying, "Congratulations, son! Oh, what for? Well, I talked with the council and, well, you're ready. Close enough. You will be chief by the next full moon."

Hiccup had run away after a feigned show of gladness. Well, more like _flown_ away, thanks to his best friend ever, Toothless, who happened to be the fastest dragon on Berk. However, even that was interrupted when they stopped for a break and Astrid, his fiancé, tracked him down on her dragon.

He was at a place so remote that there was no way he could have been found unless he wanted to be found. Or, unless _Toothless_ wanted to be found. Hiccup wouldn't put it past that sly devil to tell them exactly where to find him. That dragon had an array of sensor lobes of various sizes crowning his head, each one a web of nerves that amplified the range of his projected thoughts into far-reaching bands. Guiding Astrid's dragon to his location would have been child's play.

Then, they were almost shot down by nets launched from a dragon trapper ship that was crewed by some crazy glory-seekers working for some sort of madman called Drago Bludvist who was apparently building up a dragon army to conquer the world. That all wasn't too far from normal, but upon hearing about such madness, Stoick decided to do something that was not very much like him. He showed signs of fear. As crazy as it would normally sound, the Hooligan chief wanted to just turtle up. He had the dragons all sealed up and was preparing to hunker until the threat came to him.

The old man was so furious when Hiccup insisted on flying out to meet the threat and try to talk some sense into this Drago fellow. Hiccup knew he was in for it when he'd return home. It was just so strange to see Stoick get so defensive in his strategy and angry about confronting the enemy. No, not angry, he was… something else…

 _{He was scared to death that something would happen to you. He was afraid that you would go off on your own, do something foolish, and get yourself killed. I think he is very wise in that regard.}_

Hiccup flicked his eyes over to meet his dragon's stare, illuminated by the slow-burning fires in the mouths of the dragons surrounding them. It was uncanny how Toothless sometimes seemed to be just a hop and a skip shy of outright reading his mind. Dragons could hear nothing more than the passive hum of primal emotions and the thoughts one projects, even when it flares into sharper focus on physical contact, but they couldn't just draw information out of someone's mind. Then again, with the years Hiccup had spent practicing hearing the projected thoughts of dragons and focusing his own projections whenever he spoke, it wasn't uncommon for him to project the idle wanderings of his mind without even realizing it.

 _{Oh, and she's telling the truth. This demonic land-strider who tried to steal you from me, or Dragon Savior as this flock calls her. I can smell the similarities between her musk and yours. The resemblance is even stronger than between you and Cougar.}_

"Cougar" happened to be the name of Snotlout, Hiccup's cousin. Though Snotlout never had the patience or focus of mind to become a dragon whisperer, when Hiccup told him his "dragon name", he beamed with pride that his dragon named him after something so ferocious. Well, also loud, stubborn, and annoying, according to his dragon. Hiccup had held those details back.

Hiccup shifted his gaze at the woman standing right in front of him. "My… mother?"

She took a half-step forward but froze at Hiccup's hesitant lean away. That didn't stop her from smiling and crooning and laughing with a nervous sort of joy in a way that wasn't entirely human.

"Yes! Valka! Mother! You son!" she shouted excitedly. Then, she looked thoughtful and said, as if to herself, "Find me. How? How dragon friend? Hiccup on Berk. Stoick son. Dragon slayer. You flee? Bashed? No… ban… ban…" She snapped her fingers. "Banished! Yes! That word! That how you Drago's slave? Poor thing! No matter. Safe here. Stay safe."

Hiccup quirked his face in confusion. "Uhhh, is what you're saying _supposed_ to make sense?"

She started pacing back and forth. "Me bad. Speak little. Dragons think, not speak. People speak, not think. Interrogate trappers some. Hard to speak. They hard to hear. No, not hear. Listen? No… Ah!" She snapped her fingers and chuffed. "Understand."

Hiccup said, "Are… you-"

She started at Hiccup as if suddenly remembering he was there. "Mother!" she shouted with exuberant joy. "Your mother! I mother! You son!"

Hiccup sidled closer to his dragon's saddle.

"No!" She cried out and lunged forward, but froze when Toothless curled his lips in warning. "Safe here! Dangerous there! Please stay. I tell truth. You see." Turning to her large owl-headed dragon, she said, "Cloudjumper, show."

Cloudjumper looked at them with distaste, which was quite understandable considering it wasn't too long ago that Toothless had leaped from dragon to dragon, biting at wings in a blind fury to reunite with his rider. Dragons were no strangers to violence and would often fight for breeding grounds, food, mates, or just because they were bored. To them, pain in moderation was only another stimulant that made life interesting. What Toothless did went quite beyond that, though. Still, Cloudjumper complied and projected a torrent of impressions that Toothless relayed to his rider.

The accuracy of the memory Cloudjumper was sharing was not up for question in any way. Dragons could remember every single detail of every single impression from the day they cracked their egg. It was mind-boggling to consider, really, but equally so for a dragon to consider that any human could imagine and dream and invent and lie.

Hiccup saw it all through this dragon's eyes as he remembered it. Not only saw but heard, smelled, felt… every sense through which the dragon could perceive the world around him was a part of that memory. Hiccup didn't just watch Cloudjumper. Hiccup _was_ Cloudjumper.

The dragon was flying in a raid, back before the demonic queen - or the Red Death as the Vikings called her - was destroyed, when she forcefully controlled their minds. It was a dark night and Cloudjumper was tearing through the top of a house - or wooden cave as dragons saw them - seeking food for his queen. Inside, he didn't see anything of real value. Perhaps his nose had fooled him?

Then he saw a very small land-strider - or human as Hiccup automatically supplanted in his own mind.

Cloudjumper - as he knew himself to be now, but unnamed back then - was actually quite mentally unstable at that moment. As dragons age, the grip of the Red Death's mind snare weakens and they start to "wake up". The Red Death's solution was to command the dragons to fly into her awaiting maw before this happened. It was sick and vile, but that was how it was. Cloudjumper had the fortune of waking up sooner than anticipated. The Red Death was losing her command over him as he started to exercise independent thought and decision-making for the very first time in his life.

The Red Death, his queen, commanded him to kill that hatchling - infant, Hiccup supplied. Of course, Cloudjumper refused for the sole reason that the queen wanted it. Besides, how could he kill such a defenseless and adorable little thing? Sure, it would grow up to become a dragon slayer someday, but… but wait, that would actually be a _good_ thing. Yes, it would grow up and slay the very dragons the Red Death forced to fetch food for her gluttonous body. Having awoken from that thralldom, he knew that such an existence was so degrading that death would be a mercy. Each dragon killed by these land-striders would end their humiliating existence and hinder the queen's food supply!

He just stared at the tiny land-strider infant in all of its helpless adorability. It weakly grasped at one of the dragon's claws he was using to gently prod at it, unaware that a single twitch, a single breath, and single _anything_ could end its frail little life. The passive emotional hum wafting from this creature was pure curiosity and enthusiastic joy. It was almost intoxicating and felt so good to just be there and bask in his first exposure to any sort of positive attention in his life.

Another human came crashing in, female, fully grown. Hiccup recognized the face the dragon saw. She was holding a shiny claw - weapon - but it was clear from her posture and emotional hum that she really did not want to hurt him. She stared into the dragon's eyes, dumbfounded that such a creature could so calmly stare back instead of frantically burning the village down in search of livestock. For what seemed an eternity, that was all they did, staring at each other and trying to comprehend how the other could be so calm and peaceful when the rest of their kind was a gaggle of mindless killers.

Then the Beast charged in and broke the spell. That was what the dragons called him because he was especially large for a human and quite talented at killing dragons. Cloudjumper flailed around to avoid a thrown ax. In doing so, he felt a sharp pang of regret that one of his sharper claws raked across the infant's chin, drawing a bead of blood and turning his emotional hum very sour.

The dragon fought for his life, slashing, dodging, and belching out a torrent of fire. A moment later, his senses came to him and he decided to flee, but he was so enthralled by these other two peaceful humans. He wanted to take the infant, but such a thing was so delicate and he didn't want to hurt it. So, he took the female in his talons as he frantically flew off.

The queen called him back to the nest, but that was the last place he would ever go now that he could think for himself. He was free!

So, he flew. Where? Anywhere that wasn't the nest! After a few days of flying and learning to coexist with this human, he ended up finding a safe place.

Hiccup tore his hand from Toothless' snout, breaking his ability to hear the projected thoughts. Toothless was graciously acting as a buffer, relaying the torrent of impressions from CloudJumper at a rate Hiccup could manage, but he had seen more than enough to make his head spin.

"That… was me!" he panted, trying to get his breathing under control. He lightly dragged a finger across the scar on his chin that he had his whole life, apparently inadvertently given by Cloudjumper. Stoick had always dodged the question of how it got there. "And you and Dad! You… he…"

Hiccup pointed an accusatory finger at Cloudjumper. "You stole my… my…" he frowned and paused as he wasn't ready to acknowledge this crazy, feral, vigilante dragon lady as his mother.

The other rider said, "Yes, could say. Stole me. Meant no harm."

Hiccup crossed his arms. "So, what, for twenty years, you've been held captive by these dragons as their prisoner?"

She laughed. "No. Stole, yes. No captive." She held her arms out and twirled around in demonstration. "I stay. Want to. _Need_ to. Dragons need me. Free captive dragons. Cloudjumper sorry. He broke us up. He say he fly me back. Well…" she paused in thought, "I no hear dragons yet. Still understand. That was way back. Days after taking me. Not many."

Hiccup's mind whirled. He felt like he was going to faint. Nothing made sense! Well, except for one thing. "Then you cannot be my mother."

"I am!"

"No. If you really are Valka Haddock-"

"I am!"

"I never got to know her, but I know her through what I've heard others tell me. My mother was fierce in upholding noble ideals."

"I was! Am!" The blood was draining from her face as she realized he was not accepting her… or her story, at least.

"Valka was incredibly loyal to Berk. She loved her husband."

"Yes," she whimpered. "Still."

Hiccup caught himself waving his arms and shrugging his shoulders. "Then if my mother was captured by Cloudjumper, bonded with him, and was offered a free ride back home, then she would take it."

"But they kill dragons on sight. Cloudjumper-"

"Could have dropped you off in the forest a safe distance from the village!"

"What then? Leave Cloudjumper?"

"For me?" Hiccup crossed his arms with a hurt look on his face. "You're right. Tough call!"

Toothless held a level stare at his rider. _{As if you're one to pass judgment about that. Don't you have a saying about black cooking utensils calling each other names?}_

"But how go back?" the lady asked, her face turning red. "To tribe! Kills dragons! I free dragons! Protect dragons! I… had…" She faltered as Hiccup closed his eyes and slowly shook his head.

 _{Firefly, while we're considering the pointless could-haves of the past, if your dam came back to rear you, would we have met? Would I still be a mindless thrall sieging your nest until the demonic queen felt like eating me? Would you still be so lonely and lost in life?}_

Hiccup stared at Toothless with a paling face. The dragon was not distraught; if anything, he was amused. Hiccup pulled his hand away and pointed an accusatory finger at his- at this lady.

"My mother would never willingly abandon her tribe. She would never forsake her family and home and-"

" _No!_ " she screeched. An inferno flared up within as she pushed herself right into Hiccup's face, finger shaking in front of his nose. Her whole body quivered with indignation. Toothless growled warningly, but she didn't even acknowledge his existence.

"Don't you _dare_!" she hissed defiantly. "Don't you _dare_ suggest I _forsake_ home! _My_ home!" She slapped a hand to the shingled carapace plates of her body armor, over her heart, and advanced forward, forcing Hiccup to backpedal. " _My_ home! _My_ family. My-" she choked back a sob and laid a gentle hand on Hiccup's forehead. Tears streamed down her cheeks and clung to her chin. "My… son."

Hiccup just stood there, speechless. Tears sprung unbidden from his eyes. His chin quivered and his knees felt weak.

"My son… my son…" she whimpered.

Toothless pressed his muzzle into his rider's hand so he could be heard. _{She really is your dam, Firefly. I can tell. There is no room for doubt.}_

"But… but…"

"My son… my son…"

"I…"

"My son…"

"But…"

"My son…"

Toothless snorted. _{Why do you land-striders always have to make things so difficult? She is your dam. Cloudjumper stole her away when he shook off the mind snare. He offered to take her back and she refused. She may explain why and you may or may not like it, but the fact that she is your dam is not a complicated matter.}_

"But…"

"My son…"

"But… why?" Hiccup finally managed to splutter out. He was grudgingly ready to acknowledge this person as his mother, but… it was just too much! "Why stay here? If you loved your family-" Hiccup swiped a sleeve under his nose.

"I do!" she said through her sniffling.

"If you loved me-"

"Did! Do! Always! Forever!"

"Then, why did you…" Hiccup took a sharp breath to collect his wits. He could feel his face reddening. "Why did you never even _visit_ us?"

"Oh, Hiccup," Valka said, "Words are so… confining. Cloudjumper can show-"

"No!" Hiccup schooled his expression to soften his face. "No, please, I want to hear it from _you_. Why did _you_ decide to leave your family? Why did _you_ decide that I should grow up believing that my mother died a horrible death? Why did _you_ leave Dad all alone to… to…" Hiccup sniffed and tried to bite back the tears. "... to raise me all by himself? It drove us both absolutely crazy and-"

Valka rushed forward and nuzzled Hiccup, pressing her cheek and forehead against his. Hiccup flinched back, unsure of the gesture, but Toothless shoved him forward with his snout.

"Sorry!" she said in a strained quiver. "Me sorry! So sorry! Cry. Good cry. No shame."

For what seemed an eternity, they both stood there. Hiccup was frustrated, not at her, but at himself. He should be upset. He should be angry. His heart should not be tugging at him to embrace her and accept that everything would be alright.

Finally, Valka took a step back and wiped the tears from her cheeks. She looked at Hiccup with sad eyes that somehow also burned with determination. "Know this, Hiccup. If you believe one thing only, believe this. Every day, I doubt. Every day, I wonder. Every day, I say, 'what if I go back now? See husband. See family. See tribe. See if Silent Sven still silent. See son-" She took a shuddering breath. "See son grow. What I lose to stay here.' Know this, Hiccup. Know this. Nothing you say can make me feel more guilty. Nothing can hurt me more than that thought. Nothing… Nothing… I'm sorry! To be raised by Stoick only…"

Hiccup rolled his eyes as he smiled and wiped at the tears. "Tell me about it. We took turns driving each other insane. I think we left the sheep in his pasture, as the saying goes."

"Stoick good but stupid. Big heart, small brain."

Hiccup let out something between a crying wail and a laugh. "I think he split one too many rocks with his forehead."

Mother and son laughed themselves silly as they both sank to their knees to catch their breath.

Valka drew back and took in a sharp breath as if she just came to a decision. "Come," she said, shooting up to stand and gesturing urgently with her hand. Hiccup hesitated. "Please. I show. You see. I explain all. Let me show."

Hiccup took a step, but stopped when he found his arm clamped in a gummy maw. He looked back at his dragon.

 _{Firefly, don't tell me you're actually going to follow your dam who had abandoned you, surrounded by unfamiliar dragons who are understandably upset because I hurt some of them, and move deeper down these tunnels where we would have no chance of escape.}_

Hiccup paused in thought for a moment. He casually said, "In those exact words, yes!" He then jerked his arm from his dumbfounded dragon's mouth and continued walking after his mother. His crazy, feral, vigilante, dragon-lady mother.

Toothless groaned dramatically and followed along.

* * *

 **A/N:**  
Thanks for reading! And thanks to Colorful Crayola for being my beta buddy.

Kuzi, thanks for dropping a line. I gotta hand some credit to 10Blue10 for planting such a seed in my mind. I always enjoy giving bad guys some plausible justification. Ya know, every man is righteous in his own eyes.

TheNaturalLlama3, don't worry, Hiccup and Toothless are still the main stars in this story.

Toothlessgolfer, I'm actually really encouraged that the humor came through. I figured Gobber's gotta lighten the mood somehow but I won't result to having him talk about his undies. Yeah, there will be some divergence from the canon. I got one big surprised planned. If I pull it off right, you'll never see it coming, and when it's revealed, you'll be all like, "Whaaaaat?! My mind just exploded!"

Dragonrider's Fury, Yep, I guess abrupt starts are totally my style. I just started reading (well listening to the audio recording of) Eragon and really enjoyed the intro where some sorcerer was flinging fireballs and whatnot. Just wait until Iron Man makes his entrance to help Toothless battle the bewilderbeast. _That_ will be an abrupt start! Uhhh, yeah, totally kidding about that. It's actually gonna be the Hulk. And I may misspell his name.


	5. Judged

**Judged**

Toothless huffed as he strode down a tunnel. He still couldn't believe it! After being attacked, his Firefly wanted to just follow after this other land-strider?! Crazy!

Granted, he now knew that the attack to separate himself from his Firefly was all a misunderstanding. Still, to just blindly follow this female land-strider was nothing short of asinine!

 _Then again,_ Toothless thought to himself, _this is Firefly after all._

To his side, Cloudjumper snorted. _{Like dam, like offspring, I suppose.}_

Toothless flicked his eyes over at the other dragon. _{She often makes blind leaps of logic and assumptions, too? My Firefly does that all the time.}_

 _{Dragon Savior is usually right. I'm sure you have seen for yourself that land-striders don't think like us. They make decisions based on more than just logic. My rider often makes a snap decision just because it feels right. Usually, her decisions are objectively correct. Usually.}_

Toothless huffed in agreement at Cloudjumper's statement. His own rider always had voices in his head. Sometimes, he would have a dream that forecasted future events. The land-strider would often do what was objectively crazy, all risk with no reward. Somehow, against all logic, time and time again, he could turn enemies into loyal allies by taking the most insane risks.

Firefly struggled to climb up a large step in the tunnel. It wouldn't have been difficult except that his prosthetic foot kept slipping. The whole tunnel, in fact, was quite slick as it was marbled with stone and ice. Light filtered in through the veins of ice, casting a dim illumination throughout. Surprisingly, the floor was unnaturally smooth for a tunnel that presumably served as a passageway for many dragons.

After Toothless gave his rider a boost up and over the ledge with his snout, he flared his sensor lobes all around the back of his head and allowed them to pulsate, instinctively finding the optimal positions to reach out with his senses. Through those lobes, unobstructed by stone and ice, he could discern the direction and distance of dragons, land-striders, and any other creature with sufficient brain power to passively emit a mental hum. The primal emotions he could pick up of the dragons dispersed throughout were various shades of content and happy. Some were flying in and out while others were just felt like idly walking about or curling up to sleep. Overall, it was the usual activity he had seen on the island on which he nested with Firefly.

There were some dragons Toothless could tell were angry and bitter. Probing a little deeper, he could hear whatever higher-level thoughts they were projecting and gathered that those were the ones he injured. None of the injuries were crippling, though. They would get over it.

Cloudjumper, though upset that Toothless hurt some of his flock to which he was the Beta, saw the new "visitors" as nothing more than a nuisance. As an explanation, he casually projected what he and the so-called Dragon Savior were up to today.

As they walked along, through Cloudjumper's eyes, Toothless saw him glide in low and fast to land undetected on the edge of what appeared to be a dragon trapper colony. It was just a bunch of wooden caves and walkways clustered around some rocky spires, but this place seemed to serve as a major point of convergence for many other dragon trappers in the area.

As Toothless saw what happened, he was grudgingly willing to acknowledge how Dragon Savior earned her name. She slunk around, fiddling with some tiny bits of iron with the sort of manual dexterity only a land-strider could accomplish. One by one, she managed to unlock the cages holding the trapped dragons.

However, none of the cages swung open. Not a single squeak could be heard. At one point, she stumbled and made a clanging sound, but a dragon roar on the other side of the colony diverted any attention that her fumble might have attracted. The dragons all remained in place.

The dragon trappers had no clue that they were about to witness a well-coordinated mass exodus.

Thanks to some quick instructions from CloudJumper, at the speed only a dragon could communicate, the captive dragons were quickly convinced that Dragon Savior was their ally and that following her plan was the best course of action. They would all wait and act as if nothing was happening. Then, they would burst out all at once and fly to freedom. By the time the captors noticed something was awry, it would be far too late to respond. Confusion and chaos would ensure their safe escape.

Of course, while all the dragons understood the necessity of staying down and quiet, one dragon shoved his way out of the cage the moment it was unlocked. The door squealed and grated as it swung open, knocking Dragon Savior aside and drawing the attention of all the trappers.

Some dragons intervened and tried to stop him from ruining the plan. Others took that as a prompt to fly free. Others still waited patiently, hoping this plan would still work.

It all quickly turned to chaos and many dragons were shot down from the sky, entwined with the land-striders' vines. Dragon Savior's tumble took her over the ledge and she would have splattered on the rocks far below, but CloudJumper leaped to catch her. He managed to pull off a rough landing, but they were immediately swarmed by the trappers.

That was when a massive sea dragon, the likes of which Toothless had never seen before, emerged from the depths. It exploded out of the water in an enormous spray of mist and foam that blocked out the sun for a moment before drenching everything. A couple of the land-striders' sea vessels that were in the way were thrown aside to break apart when they impacted the surface again. The creature was gleaming white with two massive ivory tusks jutting forward from either side of its head. Its face was littered with little spines that ended in black tips and the back of its head, neck, and what little of the body Toothless could see through Cloudjumper's eyes was completely covered in nesting layers of large spikes.

The size of this creature was simply staggering and the dragon trappers could only stare with a mix of awe and terror. That soon gave way to panicked fleeing as the great sea dragon unleashed a torrent of some sort of super-cold liquid that splattered and froze on impact, creating large spikes of ice. This distraction, along with intervention from the rest of Dragon Savior's flock, was enough for her to free the remaining dragons and escape unharmed.

They were actually on their way back from this raid when Toothless and his Firefly encountered them. It also explained why there were only larger dragons in that flock. Some of the captive dragons they freed were too injured or feeble to fly themselves, so they had to be carried. Dragon Savior and Cloudjumper coordinated with their flock to deliver these dragons to a safe island where they could rest and receive food the flock would provide.

Toothless had to concede that Cloudjumper and his rider were alright. Sure, it was unfortunate that they assumed he was a captive dragon and that his rider was a trapper - which explained the complete bewilderment in the flock as Toothless fought to reunite with Firefly - but it was all sorted out, now.

He pressed his snout into Firefly's hand to project that memory to him as well, but Firefly pulled his hand back. He wanted to hear it all straight from Dragon Savior. In listening to their thought projections as they spoke, Toothless could tell she had just started to explain that she was on a raid today. This would take a while. A very long while.

There was, perhaps, nothing in the world slower than the way land-striders communicated.

The tunnel opened up into a brightly-lit and immensely large cavern. The two dragons plus riders stepped out of the tunnel and onto a wide, flat ledge of broken up stones that were worn flat and smooth by time. The entire ground was covered in a layer of soil to support moss, grass, and small ferns. Several wingspans to each side, the ledge gave way to sheer rock walls that were an almost mesmerizing amalgamation of jutting ridges and smooth slabs. A couple trickling waterfalls spilled down the walls and into the depths unseen past the ledge on which they stood.

Toothless and Firefly just stared in stunned silence at the sight of hundreds of dragons within, illuminated by the sunlight streaming in through a ceiling of pure ice. Dragon Savior, now up to the part where she was starting to free the entrapped dragons, paused in her storytelling to gesture dramatically at this new area.

Firefly started rattling off a barrage of questions for Dragon Savior, like what fed the trickling waterfalls around the cavern, when he suddenly fell silent to just listen to the Dragon Savior. She was gesturing to dragons lounging nearby, showing him torn wings, severed legs, and other injuries they had endured, explaining how they were just at the wrong place at the wrong time to fall prey to malicious land-striders and their iron traps.

A few dragons came up to sniff at Toothless with a mixture of suspicion and curiosity, asking who the new dragon was and where he came from. Normally, Toothless would be quite eager to play with other dragons - something the riders enjoyed watching. However, given the circumstances, he was in no mood for that. One dragon even had the nerve to stick his snout right between Toothless' hind legs for a good sniff. _That_ was definitely deserving of a snarl to scare him away.

Suddenly, he noticed something peculiar. Of all the mental signatures he observed before, while they were walking through the tunnel, this one went unnoticed because the dragon was asleep. Now that it was awake, though, the weight of its passive hum felt like a boulder hitting Toothless in the face. He leaped over and practically scooped up his rider as an extensive array of spikes ascended up above the ledge in front of him. The head of a massive dragon arose and Toothless felt like all strength drained from his body.

He found himself snout-to-snout with the very same ice-spitting dragon from that raid Cloudjumper had shown!

To the side, Dragon Savior appeared to be quite unphased by the sight of a dragon with teeth as large as most dragons. she bowed down in a land-strider show of reverence, droning on about how this creature formed these caverns with its icy breath and how they all lived under its protection… and under its command.

Well, then, Toothless had to rethink what to call the Dragon Savior again. "Demonic land-strider" suddenly fit very well again for how she held such great respect for a dragon who could control the minds of other dragons.

Toothless took a step back as if that would do any good should this giant sea dragon choose to attack. Casting a quick glance over his shoulder, he could see Firefly on his back staring in awe and amazement and showing a disturbing - if not characteristic - lack of concern for his own wellbeing.

Through projections amplified beyond what even Toothless could accomplish, he heard the great beast speak, and dutifully acted as a relay for the benefit of his Firefly.

 _{GREETINGS, BLACK DRAGON AND RIDER. SO, IT IS YOU WHO HAVE DISTURBED MY SLUMBER.}_

Firefly thought with his lips, asking, _{What are you? Who are you?}_

 _{I AM WHAT I AM. I AM ME. THERE IS NONE MORE THAN ME AND NONE OTHER THAN ME THAT IS LIKE ME. I SIMPLY AM. HOWEVER, DRAGON SAVIOR CALLS ME ALPHA, AND YOU MAY, TOO.}_

Toothless growled uneasily. _{If I have an alpha, it is my precious Firefly. I can feel the pressure of your mind on mine, but know that you cannot control me. Firefly's chaotic mind and his contact with me protects me from your mind snare.}_

The great dragon rose a little taller, revealing its massive shoulders above the lip of the ledge.

 _{YOU ARE NOT REQUIRED TO SUBMIT TO MY RULE IF YOU PREFER TO LEAVE. ALREADY, YOU HAVE HARMED SOME OF MY FLOCK. THOUGH IT WAS ALL A MISUNDERSTANDING AND THEY WILL FULLY RECOVER IN SHORT TIME, I WOULD BE QUITE DISPLEASED IF YOU PROVIDE A REPEAT PERFORMANCE. I WILL NOT TOLERATE DISORDER WITHIN MY FLOCK.}_

Toothless growled.

The demonic queen, the large dragon who had controlled him since before he could even fly, also demanded order. She ensnared all dragons within the reach of her mind's influence, completely dominating their feelings and actions. Her captive flock was quite docile indeed… when she wanted them to be. At times, she would command some dragons to fight to the death for her own entertainment. At the end of it all, she would eat anyone who could no longer fly. Almost nightly, she would send them out to raid nearby land-strider nests and bring back their livestock to feed her. The dragons would sooner starve themselves than come back without a sufficient tribute for the queen because she would eat anyone who didn't satisfy her. She would also eat dragons that reached a certain age, when controlling their minds became more difficult.

In short, it was the most degrading life for everyone except her.

The worst part about it was that all those dragons _liked_ it. They _wanted_ to bring back tribute to the queen and felt pride in making her fat while they starved. They fought with genuine determination and zeal when she commanded them to do so. They felt what the queen chose to make them feel: a thrilling joy to subjugate themselves to her and grovel for her to spare their lives. They simply had no capacity to feel otherwise. Such was the degree of her complete control over their minds.

And Toothless was one of them.

Toothless projected all this in a flash. He showed this ice-spitting dragon all the horrendous things the demonic queen did to him and so many other dragons. He made sure to include what he had learned about how contact with a land-strider, with their chaotic thoughts and imaginations, protected a dragon because their minds scrambled the queen's mind snare. With his rider, he was free to oppose her with complete control over his own mind. He flew. He fought. He killed her, using her own gluttonous mass against her.

The association was clear, but Toothless felt like elaborating anyway. _{I have had my mind dominated before. It would be to your own advantage to not even try.}_ He looked at the great dragon before him with a derisive snort. _{The last creature who tried to control my mind thought she was above us all. She was wrong. Dead wrong.}_

Silence.

Even the dragons who were flying about were suddenly perched on the various ledges scattered around. The entire cavern went absolutely silent. All eyes were on Toothless and the sea dragon. Firefly's dam, privy to this conversation through her contact with Cloudjumper, stared with slack-jawed appalling dread for having addressed the sea dragon in such a way.

The sea dragon stared at Toothless with an unreadably neutral passive hum. The tense silence was broken when it pushed its great head forward and let out a puff of air. Toothless flinched, but only a harmless little whiff of frozen mist coated his scales. Firefly grinned from ear to ear as he shook the frost out of his hair. His dam confirmed that was a sign of approval.

 _{SO IT WAS YOU WHO DESTROYED HER? GOOD! YOU ACCOMPLISHED THAT WHICH I COULD NOT. IN A SINGLE DAY, YOU HAVE FREED MORE DRAGONS THAN I AND MY FLOCK HAVE IN MY LIFE SPAN. YOU HAVE MY RESPECT, LITTLE ONES.}_

The sea dragon rose a little taller and slid forward so that the massive tusks straddled Toothless, Cloudjumper, and their riders. _{THAT SAID, I HAVE NEVER USED MY ABILITY TO CONTROL DRAGONS FOR MY OWN SELFISH GAIN, BUT ONLY TO THE MINIMAL DEGREE TO MAINTAIN ORDER IN MY NEST SHOULD A DRAGON BECOME A PROBLEM. YOU WILL SHOW RESPECT TO MYSELF AND MY FLOCK FOR AS LONG AS YOU CHOOSE TO REMAIN HERE.}_

With that, the great dragon pulled back and slid down into the water to sleep again. Cloudjumper and his rider were still staring, dumbstruck.

Firefly chuckled coyly at his dam. _{And that pretty much sums up what Toothless is like.}_

* * *

 **A/N:  
** Thank you for reading and thank you Colorful Crayola for being my beta buddy. BTW, if ya got a hankering for a HTTYD fanfic that takes you away from Berk and the Hooligan tribe, go check out "Ask Not the Sparrow". Tell her I sent you. (-:

Toothlessgolfer, yeah, the movie was all like, "And Hiccup and Valka are together now. Yay. Onward to the next plot event! We ain't gonna cram all these events into 90 minutes by delving into the moral implications of what just happened."

Wodenfang, yes, count on there being a twist in this story. Ya know, kinda like the twist of a lemon on a reamer. Or the twist of a knife in one's gut. Muahahahahaaaaaa!

TheNaturalLlama3, I'll take suggestions and make no promises. )

Dragonrider's Fury, thanks, thanks, and thanks! Reading your review, I've never smiled so big ever since I was working at Area 51 where I got to ride a REDACTED to REDACTED every day and dunked my head in a barrel of REDACTED just for fun.


	6. Captured

**Captured**

Eret, son of Eret, greatest dragon trapper alive, grunted as he dropped down to the ground. He rolled on impact and sprang into a sprint in an attempt to distance himself from his captors. He had no clue how long he had endured the freezing winds, dangling from the talons of that gods-damned Deadly Nadder. Despite his racing heart, shivers shook him to the core from the wind that found its way into the dark cleft of the massive iceberg. The billow of snow that erupted when he and the dragons hit the ground settled on his bare arms, but he was already so cold he didn't even feel it.

Adrenaline fueled him as he dodged away from a lunge of the bumbling fat boy and shoved the blue-eyed lass out of the way. It was all to no avail, though. The sky-blue Deadly Nadder pounced and even had the gall to just nestle down on top of him as if he were some dragon egg to be incubated.

The blue-eyed lass - Astrid, they called her - picked herself up and dusted the snow off her heavy coat. She stroked her pet dragon's head with a high-pitched praise of "Good job, Stormfly!" Then, looking down at Eret, she disdainfully said, "Not bad, I'll give you that. I won't be so gentle with you next time, though."

"There won't be a next time!" Eret snapped through his shivers. "Soon, you will be dead and your dragons will be added to Dra-GUH!" The weight of the dragon on top increased drastically, squeezing the air out of his lungs.

Astrid glared back at him. "Dream on scum."

"Just get this thing off of me!" Eret wheezed out with all the bravado he could summon from his prone position.

The two twins - Eret had heard someone call them Ruff and Tuff - snickered. Tuff said, "Na. What Stormfly wants, she gets. And she wants _you_!"

Ruff punched him in the face, sending him sprawling to the ground. "Ow!" Tuff squealed. "What was that for?"

Ruff just casually inspected her fingernails. "The way you said that was waaay too saucy." She pressed her forehead against the Nadder's snout. "He's _mine_!"

Eret groaned. "Is this really happening? Am I really being kidnapped by some kids and their… pet dragons?" He looked up and made eye contact with Astrid. "Look, lass, I-" A squeal was torn from his throat as sharp claws prodded at his back.

"Call me lass again," Astrid hissed as she hefted her double-bit ax. "Please. I dare you."

Eret rolled his eyes. "Alright, _Astrid_ , listen, I got you here. Drago's just over there. I gave you what you wanted. You don't need me anymore!"

"Hmm, you're right," Astrid said. "Stormfly, you hungry, girl?"

Eret yelped at a jet of hot breath from above. "You… you wouldn't… would you?"

Off to the side, Ruff snapped her teeth at the dragon and said, "Don't forget, Stormfly, Eret is _mine_!"

"Can you just get this thing off me?" Eret pleaded.

"Never take a toy from a dragon," Astrid casually said over her shoulder as she walked away toward the ledge to join the fat boy and the arrogant black-haired one - apparently named "Snot" or something like that.

Ruff and Tuff were too busy to join them as they were… occupied. Tuff was trying to goad the Zippleback into biting his sister. She ended up grabbing his helmet and tossing it up so the two heads of the dragon could play monkey in the middle with Tuffnut. _Not that these northerners would even know what a monkey is_ , Eret mused to himself.

Over by the ledge, the other riders ignored Ruff and Tuff as if this were normal behavior. The fat boy was shuffling through a leather-bound notebook, mumbling, "Large diameter bubbles, must have massive lungs, cold-water deep-dweller… class five leviathan. At least. Meatlug says she really doesn't like it here. I'm starting to agree with her."

Suddenly, the weight on Eret's back shifted and he heard a ramshorn sound out. The Nadder immediately shot up, spreading its wings to bolt into the sky. Eret didn't take the time to question providence as he rushed to his feet to escape, but several Vikings stepped out from behind icy, snow-covered boulders, all wearing polar bear helmets and capes. They quickly incapacitated the dragons with blow darts that Eret knew contained powerful sedatives from the venom of Speed Stinger dragons. The beasts hardly got out a roar and a spittle of fire before keeling over in sleep.

With the dragons down, the attackers readied their spears and advanced menacingly on Eret and the dragon riders. Eret longed for his twin short swords that were long since removed from their scabbards. He knew he couldn't fight his way out of the situation but he had no idea how the riders would react. To his relief, and in part to his disappointment, they immediately threw down their weapons and surrendered, seeing their disadvantage.

Eret held out open-palmed hands in greeting at the one he figured to be the leader. "Ah, the rescue party. Good to see you, boys! I was getting worried-"

"Hands behind back!" the leader snapped. "We are taking you all prisoner. Drago will decide what to do with you."

Eret blinked in confusion. "But I _work for_ Drago. My name is Eret, son Eret, greatest-"

"Hands behind back!"

"Easy, there," Eret said with a show of confidence he felt quickly draining. "We're on the same side. No need to treat-"

He yelped when the tip of a spear was thrust forward to rest between his eyes.

"HANDS! BEHIND! BACK!" the leader shouted again.

"Okay, okay," Eret said as he moved to comply. Hands patted him down and snatched up belt knife and boot dagger before binding his wrists with rough cordage. The other riders were similarly disarmed and restrained.

As they took Tuff's mace - the head of which was unnaturally shiny compared to any other iron weapon - he shouted, "Macey! MAAACEEEEY! Be gentle with her! She's a delicate flower! Be sure to sing to her at night. And keep her away from one-headed dragons." That was about when one of the Vikings took the time to stuff something into his mouth.

After some signaling back and forth from their position, a whole flock of Gronckles flew in, chains spanning from their harnesses to sturdy wooden platforms. These platforms were lowered and the hostile dragons, the ones these kids were riding, were muzzled, hauled onto the platforms, and chained down. The riders and Eret were also chained down to one of the wooden platforms, which was carried along with the others towards the armada in the waters below.

Eret had seen bits of Drago's main armada before, whenever he delivered a shipment of captured dragons. However, the flight down gave quite the spectacle of just how massive this operation was. Dozens of large ships, heavily armed with large siege weaponry and armored with iron plates, clustered around in concentric circles. What must have been the flagship, as it was much larger than the others, was in the innermost ring. They were all pointed towards the center of the circle where… something… was disturbing the surface of the water. Eret thought he could pick out large bubbles bursting in the foamy surface. He figured it must have been from the Sharkworm dragons. They were large, powerful swimmers that Drago had somehow conditioned to tow the ships around.

More guards handled them when they landed, unchaining the riders from the platform so only their hands were bound.

Up ahead, Drago stood between the two large stemposts of the ship, cloaked in a black dragonhide cape, as always. He turned around with a disdainful look on his scarred, ugly, and disconcertingly asymmetrical face and slowly strode his hulking form toward Eret and the prisoners, using his always-present spike-tipped bullhook as a walking stick. The sneer Eret realized was never absent seemed to be permanently molded into the man's face.

At just the sight of that man, Eret could swear he felt the brand on his chest start to burn. It was a parting gift Drago gave in their last meeting when he was dissatisfied with the dragon shipment.

Trying to sound casual, Eret said, "Drago! Ha ha! Always great to see you, my friend. Keeping warm up here?"

Drago showed no signs of having heard as he advanced. Two stocky, armor-clad dragons nearby bowed their heads and averted their eyes at his approach.

"Anyway," Eret said, feeling more nervous, "One can never be too safe, but do I really need to be bound up like this, sir?"

Drago grunted and flicked his head. One of the crewmen came up and cut Eret loose. He shook the cramps out of his wrists out and said, "Well, as you can see, I'm _right_ on time with the new batch of dragons, just like I... promised…"

He faltered at some commotion from behind. The Monstrous Nightmare had already woken up and the crewmen were struggling to control it. Flames erupted from its entire body as it struggled against its restraints. Eret stumbled back from the immense heat and choked on the smoke. The dragon strained the heavy chains and threw around the crewmen trying to hold it down. Its leather muzzle sizzled in the heat and broke, allowing the dragon to snap at one crewman, but it bit only empty air. However, it did manage to swing its snout into another, knocking him clear overboard. More crewmen rushed forward to restrain the dragon.

"Drop the chains!" Drago commanded in his gritty voice that was more like a growl.

The crewmen complied and backed away. Drago walked toward the Monstrous Nightmare. The two locked eyes.

Drago grunted. The dragon roared.

It reared its head back and let out a massive torrent of sticky, burning fuel that bathed the area in an orange glow. Drago was unphased, though, as he had whipped his black dragonskin cloak around to block the fire.

Eret could feel the brand on his chest burning again.

The dragon roared. Drago roared even louder.

He whirled his spike-tipped bullhook around and slammed the tip into the decking as he continued to advance on the dragon and - Eret couldn't believe it - the dragon whimpered and lowered its snout to the deck. The kid riders cried out in outrage as Drago placed his boot on the dragon's snout and cruelly declared, "You belong to _me_ , now."

Eret gulped. He had never seen Drago - or any man - subdue a dragon like that. No, Drago was no man. He was a great, hulking beast, a Jötunn.

Suddenly, Eret felt very small and had a sinking sense of impending doom. He was short on his quota, caught with the riders, and Drago was looking extra cruel. To try to ensure his agreeable standing with the monster before him, Eret gulped and said, "And, as an added bonus, I also caught you their riders. No extra charge."

From behind him, Snot shouted, "Excuse me? _We_ caught _you_ , thank you very much!"

Ruff whined, "Aww, but you were _so perfect_!"

Ignoring them, Eret went on, saying, "Turns out there's a whole _bunch_ of them out there." _Maybe information will grant me good favor._

Drago slowly advanced on Eret.

"Yeah," Eret continued, trying to steady his knees, "their entire-"

Drago cut him off by lunging forward to wrap his large fingers around Eret's neck. Eret closed his eyes as he struggled for breath, clawing in futility at Drago's arm.

"How many?" Drago demanded. "HOW MANY?!"

"Hundreds!" Astrid declared, full of the sort of confidence that could only come from sheer ignorance despite the fact that her arms were still bound behind her back. "A whole island full!"

Drago loosened his grip a little and Eret sucked in a glorious breath of air. This tactic was only making Drago angrier, so in a desperate attempt to safeguard his own life, he said, "I wouldn't worry about it."

Drago tightened his grip.

Eret used the last of his air to wheeze out, "My men are hunting them down as we speak. They won't know where you're hiding, I promise you that."

"Oh yes they will!" Astrid declared, taking a few steps forward.

Drago dropped Eret to the deck in a heap to glare at the shieldmaiden.

With the false illusion that Drago wouldn't have them tortured and killed just for fun, Astrid said, "They know we're missing and they have tracking dragons. Besides, Stormfly escaped your ambush and will lead them _right_ to us. If you so much as _touch_ us, Hiccup is going to kick-"

"Hic-cup?" Drago vocalized, an amused grin tugging at a corner of his lips.

"He's not a problem," Eret said from his kneeling position in front of Drago. "Really. Trust me."

Astrid continued to run her mouth and only make things worse for everyone. "He's only the son of Stoick the Vast, his heir to the throne of Berk. _And_ the greatest dragon master _this world has ever seen_!"

Eret groaned inwardly. Not only was she terrible at intimidation, but she was going to get herself killed and take Eret with her.

Drago tilted his head and ground out, "Dragon master?! I _alone_ control the dragons!"

The peanut gallery of young dragon riders behind Astrid had the same sort of idiotic false confidence.

"Nope."

"Uh-uh."

"Sorry."

"Hahaha."

Astrid looked back at them, then turned to Drago with a sneer on her face that was about to be rearranged - if she was lucky. "And unless you let us go _right now_ , he will blast through here on his Night Fury and blow your entire fleet of ships to splinters!"

"Then they'll be crying like babies!" Ruff declared. It wasn't until now, as Snot and the fat one laughed and encouraged her, that Eret realized they were actually fighting for her attention to woo her. They could find better. Anywhere! A yak farm, for instance. _Crazy Northerners_!

Drago reached down and hauled Eret up by the neck. "First, there was _one_ rider, and now all of Berk. And _you_ led them to me."

He tossed Eret aside like an annoying fly. "Anchors up!" he shouted at the crew. "We will wipe out these silly barbarians! Now, MOVE!"

"Your loss," Astrid casually said.

Drago rounded on her. "And why is that?"

"Oh, nothing big. Well, it is quite big, actually. Enormous. You see, aside from a dragon army that could lay waste to your fleet, they also happen to be allied with-"

"The Lava Lout tribe!" Eret declared, cutting her off. "They don't have dragons, but they have dragon-scaled shields and armor. Tough fighters. Nasty lot. Nothing you can't handle, though."

Eret tried to sneak Astrid a pleading look, but she just rolled her eyes. "Just someone Eret calls the dragon thief. A whole colony, actually, and they have a dragon that could crush this ship just by stepping on it! _And_ it can lay waste to your fleet by shooting out _massive_ shards of ice."

Drago sneered. "Oh, really? _Shards_ of ice? Are you _sure_?"

Astrid faltered. "Y-yes. Blasted Eret's fort to bits! The shards would impale your ship and send it down to Ægir's domain!"

Drago rolled his eyes. "The lies from your mouth are plain as day. I'll find some good use for those lips because they're no good at lying." Astrid's haughty smirk snapped to horror as several crewmen advanced to haul her and the other teens off. Drago turned on Eret and said, "And I don't see any need for him to continue existing. Get rid of him."

Eret backup, but the crewmen surrounded him. "C'mon, Drago, let's not be like that. I can still-"

His breath caught in his throat at the glint of an airborne ax spinning towards him. He knew he couldn't dodge it in his current position. He could duck but the ax would fall right along with him. His life flashed before his eyes and, well, it wasn't all that pleasant. Or rewarding. Or happy.

Something else flashed before his eyes, too. Well, more like slammed into the deck. Astrid's Deadly Nadder thumped down over Eret. He heard a dull clang as the ax bounced off the array of ivory horns jutting out of the back of the Nadder's head.

Shocked, dumbstruck, Eret could only watch as the Nadder curled its quill-laden tail around him after using it to whip another ax from its flight path. The response was immediate and a few crewmen used blow darts to quickly sedate the dragon.

Before nodding off, the Nadder flicked its head over to grab Eret's hand in its maw and gave him a hard stare. Eret had never seen anything other than the usual terror or hatred in the dragons he had captured, but the way this dragon looked at him clearly communicated one simple message.

 _If there is anything good in you, you will save my rider._

Eret was stunned. His mind was whirling so much that it took him a moment to realize that the Nadder was flat on the deck and his throat was in Drago's grip again to haul him off.

As he dragged Eret towards the bow of the ship, Drago said, "She is bluffing. She has never seen a Bewilderbeast, but she has seen _signs_ of one and it wasn't mine."

"Yours?" Eret gasped out. Drago thrust him over the edge and Eret stretched his toes to maintain some sort of contact with the deck. He followed Drago's malicious stare and his heart dropped. Two massive tusks rose out of the water to straddle them. The face of an enormous dark-gray sea dragon surfaced from the black depths. Eret felt an icy dagger of fear slice through him and he went completely limp in Drago's grasp.

"Now, tell me," Drago said in a dangerously quiet voice, "If it attacked your fort and you're still alive, you must have seen it. What does it look like?"

Eret struggled for breath. Drago mercifully tossed him to the deck to collapse to his knees.

Eret stared in disbelief at the sea dragon. "Like that. White instead of gray. It just popped up from the water and-"

Drago hauled Eret up by the neck and held him out over the edge again.

"Drago," Eret wheezed out, "I'm on your side. I serve you!"

"WHERE! IS! IT!" Drago demanded.

Eret glanced down at the massive dragon's maw below and choked. Drago threw him to the deck again.

"WHERE?!"

Eret sucked in a lungful of air and said, "I don't know! It popped up, attacked, and dunked down again. The dragons all flew Northwest, but it took me half a day to get a ship seaworthy again. I couldn't track it."

Drago roared and kicked Eret off the edge of the deck. Eret flailed around and managed to hang by a few fingers, suspended over the maw of the great beast below.

"You are no use to me, then!" Drago bellowed as he strode up to stand above Eret.

"But I can still catch dragons," Eret said, desperately trying to maintain his grip with his sweaty fingers. "I lost some, but I can catch them again."

Drago placed a foot over Eret's fingers. Eret gulped.

"I want that Bewilderbeast!" Drago bellowed.

"I can still help!" Eret desperately said. "I've been all around and can help you narrow down the search."

Drago paused for a moment and looked down at him thoughtfully.

"Yes!" Eret said, trying in vain to keep the terror out of his voice. "And those riders have surely been around on their dragons and would have useful information. Sure, you can torture them, interrogate them, but you saw how Astrid's dragon intervened on my behalf. I can make them see me as a friend and loosen their lips. Give me a map. Astrid and I can narrow down your search and-"

Drago ground his heel on Eret's index finger and a crunch could be heard. Eret cried out in pain and tried to keep his grip with the remaining fingers.

"And why did Astrid send her Nadder to save you? Why would they trust you? Why should _I_ trust you?"

Eret tried a shrug and it almost cost his grip. "I don't know! Honest! That doesn't mean we can't take advantage of that." Eret closed his eyes and saw only that Nadder, its imploring yellow eye boring into his. "You can break her spirit but a simpering thrall isn't what you need her to be right now. Let me get her to help me help you!" _Damn the gods! That snarky lass is my only chance to survive this._

Drago stared off into the distance as if deep in thought. He seemed to have come to a snap decision when he whirled around and stomped his hulking form away from the edge. Eret used that opportunity to swing his other arm up to secure his grip. The hands of a couple crewmen roughly hauled him up. Eret beamed at them, thankful to be on solid decking.

Drago cast a sneer over his shoulder. "Toss him with the others."

* * *

 **A/N:  
** Thanks for reading! And thank you Colorful Crayola for being my beta buddy.

TheNatrualLama3, yeah, me too. Expect me to take full advantage of that in future chapters.

Toothlessgolfer, thanks for bringing up the whole mind control thing. I sorta glazed over it, so I'm glad you pointed that out so I could go back and add a little bit more in the previous chapter. If you've ever read Isaac Asimov's Foundation trilogy, the Mule in "Foundation and Empire" was a very strong influence on how I handle dragons being controlled. We'll be seeing more of that sorta stuff later on. Oh, and as for any twists with Drago, Stoick, and Valka, well, let me just say this. I don't want to give too much away, but when Drago attacks the nest, Hiccup talks him out of his conquest fantasy and they all join hands and sing Kumbaya and the two bewilderbeasts swim off into the sunset. The end. Lemme tell you, though, I really am looking forward to writing the part where Hiccup and the Dragon King REDACTED! That'll be absolutely amazing!

Dragonrider's Fury, Thanks! Also, yeah, I told Toothless to watch his big fat mouth. Then he bit me. Useless reptile! Oh, btw, nice evil laugh; you must practice that a lot.


	7. Reconciled

**Reconciled**

"So, make sure I understand," Valka slowly said, taking her time to allow the words and phrasing forgotten over the years to come back to her. "She always punch you in shoulder before kiss?"

Hiccup chuckled. "Yep, that's Astrid for ya. She switches shoulders sometimes, though. She's so thoughtful."

"You suppose to hit back."

"I told you already, I don't do that," Hiccup casually said with a shrug.

Throughout his entire youth, he'd learned that fighting back, meeting aggression with aggression, only made things worse. At the age of seven, one of his peers really drove that point home. Frustrated by Hiccup's overbearing curiosity and apparent runty weakness - even at that young age - he threw Hiccup to the ground and dragged him through the mud. Again.

Instead of laying there until he walked away, Hiccup decided to act on his father's advice and fight back, which only gave him bruises, a broken rib, and a half-collapsed throat. This was during a dragon raid and that was when a dragon plucked up the bully off of Hiccup and was never seen again. Hiccup could never recall that boy's name, but ever since then, he learned that fighting fire with fire only made a bigger mess.

It was a viewpoint almost every Viking detested and it frustrated Hiccup to no end that even the dragon-loving Valka couldn't accept that.

"Not that Astrid ever was one to bully me," he quickly added.

Hiccup stretched out to lay alongside his dragon. Well, a casual observer might not have called Toothless a dragon so much as an amorphous puddle of scales. When Valka had led them down some tunnels to a cavern that served as a bedroom, Toothless just heated up a patch of rock and slumped down bonelessly to the ground, ignoring Cloudjumper's protests of how that was _his_ favorite spot. Hiccup made his dragon melt even more into the ground with a thorough massage wherever he felt knotted muscles.

Toothless had long since given up on trying to play the part of the vigilant sentry, always distrustful of anything nearby that had a pulse. The stunt he pulled back there when he flew hard, jumping from dragon to dragon to reunite with his rider, was a jaw-dropping display of explosive energy, but he was paying the price now.

"I sorry," Valka suddenly said after a silent spell. She stared at the wide horns that crowned Cloudjumper's head, squirming against the dragon's serpentine tail that was wrapped around her.

Hiccup lifted his head to peer over his own dragon's tail. "For what? And don't say it's because you-"

"But I did," she said in a sad tone. "I leave son. It's a blessing Gobber is second father to you. Stoick strong and brave, but headstrong. He not teach you fight because ax and hammer all he know. Since you no swing ax, lift hammer, he teach you nothing. Should teach dagger. Teach bow. Teach sling. You do well with that, I know. But no, not proper Viking weapons. Not… manly enough. Nobody teach." She shot up and started pacing. "Stupid! Stupid Stoick! Stupid me! Leave son with Stoick."

Hiccup averted his gaze from… his mother… because he couldn't stand to see her like that. He gazed down the short tunnel that led to the outside of the frozen rock they were in. The sun painted the sky and clouds the most amazing shades of pink as it settled below the horizon. Out in the distance, beyond the ledge, he could see dragons folding their wings and splashing into the ocean to catch some fish before bursting out again into flight. Such activity was an impossibly beautiful sight Hiccup never grew tired of seeing.

"I already told you," he softly said, "I forgive you. I'm in no position to demand any different as I really can't blame you. I too see myself as a sort of dragon ambassador. I mean, just a few years ago, Dad started allowing me to take Toothless to-"

Valka groaned. Hiccup sighed. This was why Toothless did not want to partake much at all in sharing with Valka and Cloudjumper about their past, even before he passed out. He knew Valka would balk at the very notion of the new lifestyle on Berk with dragons as friends, so he decided it would be best to let his rider go over things in "The most clumsy and ponderously slow manner of communication that only a land-strider could invent" - his words. Hiccup was happy enough to tell everything that had happened… _before_ all of Berk suddenly decided - well, was forced - to accept dragons as friends.

So, throughout the night, they talked about the past twenty years. Valka had told a little about her activities, mainly that she freed trapped dragons and helped them recover from injuries. She would visit a trade port on occasion, landing in secret and hiding Cloudjumper to walk to town. The meat and pelts from Cloudjumper's kills was enough currency to obtain necessary clothing, tools, and even some seasonings.

However, she was much more interested in hearing about Hiccup. He told her about growing up on Berk, all his failed inventions, and the punishments for the catastrophe each one ended in. He talked about shooting down Toothless with his bola ballista - the one invention that did work. That was about when Toothless had given up his valiant attempt to stay awake and nodded off while Hiccup told Valka about his change of heart and freeing the ensnared Night Fury, risking his life to befriend him and establish contact, then risking everything else in his tribe by helping the Vikings' most hated enemy to fly again.

Valka had listened with rapt attention as Hiccup talked about his ascension from zero to hero in dragon training, Astrid confronting him in the cove, the ride of terror that Toothless gave her, the flight to and from the Red Death's nest, and the failed attempt to show the Hooligan tribe that dragons could be befriended instead of killed.

That was when Valka became less of a listener and more of a defiant herald. There was no denying that Hiccup and Toothless destroyed the Red Death, but hearing about Stoick diving into the water to rescue a drowning Toothless, apologizing to the _dragon_ , taking them both into his home… Valka kept interrupting Hiccup with, "If only it were possible," or, "Believe me, I tried as well but people are not capable of change, Hiccup."

Hiccup wasn't even able to talk about the more interesting things, like Fishleg's discovery of Gronckle Iron or how Stoick learned to enjoy riding a dragon… eventually. He couldn't even talk about the improvements to village life like dragon racing, the winged fire brigade, the dragon carpentry crew, or Bucket's abnormally abundant crop after he asked some of the dragons to answer nature's call on his field the prior Fall.

He could talk about Astrid's habit of punching him in the shoulder before kissing him, but he couldn't finish any sentence he started about how her dragon, Stormfly, thought that was absolutely adorable. Stormfly did consider her rider the most dragon-like human, after all. Toothless would sometimes start fights with Stormfly when he thought her rider punched his rider too hard. It was all play-fighting, though, that shed some scales and left them panting and satiated. Minor cuts were not uncommon after such scuffles, but that only deepened their respect for each other and they would always lick each other wherever it hurt.

Valka would listen as he told her how he learned to hear the thought projections of dragons through daily meditation, but gods forbid he dare suggest that he learned _that_ from someone else, let alone someone from another tribe. He didn't even entertain the slightest hope that he could talk about this one girl, Tofa, who learned to hear dragons at the age of three; she quickly surpassed everyone's ability in that regard and could even hear dragons without having to touch them, probably because her mind was so malleable at such a young age that it hadn't hardened yet.

Hiccup could tell Valka none of this because it required her to accept something she simply could not.

He lay back down and let out a long exhale. "Dad really has changed. Everyone has. I'm not lying."

"Hiccup, I never said you lie. I just…"

"Actually," Hiccup said with a light sneer, throwing his hands up in frustration, "everything I tried to tell you was a lie. I found Toothless in the forest, helped him fly, we flew off and ended the dragon war, then had absolutely no contact at all with any other Vikings for the past five years. Zero, zilch, zip, nadda!"

"Hiccup! I…" Valka went silent as she realized she had nothing to say to that.

Hiccup deflated and sank back into his dragon's side. "I understand. It's a lot to take in.

Valka chewed on her lip and a silence settled over them. Hiccup pressed his ear to his dragon. He closed his eyes and let out a long exhale, relaxing to the sound of the air rushing in and out of the Night Fury's lungs with each slow breath.

Eventually, Hiccup sighed and said, "Toothless told me to just give it some time. I guess he's right. Then again, Toothless is always right."

The boneless puddle of scales rumbled softly. _{One would think you would learn to never doubt me by now.}_

Hiccup gave an incredulous look at his dragon, who put forth a heroic effort to lift his head and smirk at his rider. "You were a-" he let out a cavernous yawn - "sleep!"

 _{I don't sleep; my mind simply ascends to a different realm.}_

Hiccup stuck his tongue out. Such imagination never came naturally to a dragon, but Toothless certainly picked up some from his rider over the years, along with some snarky wit.

Toothless shifted over to flatten his rider to the ground. _{You should sleep, too. You are tired, your dam is tired, I am tired, everyone is tired.}_

Hiccup wheezed under the weight of his dragon, which quickly lessened as Toothless shifted into _just_ the right position to curl up around his rider. Hiccup rested his head on one of Toothless' forelegs while the other draped over him. A wing and tail came down to cocoon him in.

"I glad you safe," Valka mumbled. Initially, Hiccup couldn't hear her from within his cocoon but Toothless obligingly projected what his ears heard for his rider's sake.

Hiccup realized he really wanted to go over to Valka at the same time he realized how truly tired he actually was. "Toothless," he mumbled, "could you tell Cloudjumper to tell Valka… I dunno. I guess that makes two of us? I really am glad to find her alive instead of fed to the Red Death."

 _{I already did. In fact, through me, through Cloudjumper, she can hear you directly.}_ A large, black head slid into the cocoon. _{And she can see you too.}_

Hiccup stroked the scaly snout. He could see and hear his mother too through his connection with Toothless to Cloudjumper, who also had his neck craned around to look at his rider. Without any forelegs on Cloudjumper to curl up against, Valka had her head resting on the dragon's tail that was curled all the way around.

"I have nightmares, sometimes," Valka said. "About you. Stoick give up when you infant and toss you off cliff. Boulder dragon burns your head off. You die. Outcast. Disowned. Become vagabond. Feral, cannibalistic, hiding from everyone. I know not how many times."

Cloudjumper tossed in, _{One thousand fifty-three by my count.}_

Toothless snorted. _{Yours projects her dreams too?}_

 _{Yes, and I'm guessing you never found a way to stop them from doing that?}_

 _{No, but it can be amusing. Particularly when they dream of mating.}_

 _{There is that.}_

"Toothless!" Hiccup shouted as he smacked his dragon's side. Valka chortled.

A long silence stretched out. Finally, Hiccup said, "Well, I guess you won't be having any nightmares tonight, then."

"No," Valka said fondly. "Love you."

"I love you too," Hiccup said.

"Someday, I'll earn your love and you will actually mean that."

Hiccup opened his mouth to speak but realized he had nothing to say. He lost his mother when he was an infant. Meeting her here felt no different in his heart than meeting some random stranger and it bothered him that he felt that way.

"Then we'll just settle for 'sleep well', Mom."

Valka let out a humming sort of warble. "Sleep well, son."

########

* * *

########

Valka woke to the bright sun shining in her eyes through the mouth of the tunnel, which was one of the main reasons she always slept here. She stretched out alongside her dragon before arising to greet him with a chuff and a rub of her cheek against his. Cloudjumper returned the gesture before he stretched and squeezed through the tunnel and spread his wings to relieve himself.

Valka ducked into a nook off the side of the tunnel to do likewise. She had fashioned it into a simple latrine with a wooden bench to sit on. It was her first big project after landing here so many years ago. With the help of some dragons, she was able to dig through the rock and ice so that her waste would fall down a hole and spill into the sea where algae and various little critters would take things from there.

She still couldn't believe it. Her long-lost son just _happened_ to fly way out here to the frozen rear-end of nowhere. His story about how he met and befriended Toothless and helped him fly again was nothing short of amazing. She knew there was more to the bond that they formed for the dragon to be so single-mindedly loyal to his rider. On top of stumbling across long-lost family, it was so thrilling to see that he really did take after his mother.

However, Valka just couldn't bring herself to accept some of the things he was saying about Berk. She didn't think he was lying; Cloudjumper would have smelled that instantly and made it known, but to think that the Hairy Hooligan tribe could just… just… accept dragons? Preposterous! Ridiculous!

Stoick riding a dragon instead of showing his alpha-male dominance by killing it? Ha! It would be easier to believe that fish could fly.

Maybe Hiccup was desperate for the change he wanted and worked himself into a delusion. Poor thing.

Valka was just standing and securing her simple gray wool robe when she saw her son pass by the latrine. He flicked his eyes to see what was there. Though he saw nothing revealing in any way, he still stumbled as the realization hit him.

"Oh! Uh, uhhhhh, sorry," he spluttered out.

"Don't be," Valka said. "My fault. Dragons know no privacy. You know, I'm sure. Need cloth… ummm… covering. No, not that, Not hide, hangs down, uhhhh… " she paused, trying to recall the word to mind.

"Curtain?" Hiccup supplied.

Valka crooned. "Yes. That. Currin. No, cur… tan." She snorted and flicked a glance at her son. "Sorry. Long time."

Hiccup picked up the cue. "Cur-tain."

"Curtain! Yes. Grateful. Need curtain. You must have need." She gestured to the latrine. "Go. I wait out here. Then we get food."

"Thanks… Mom."

Valka spun around and lunged forward to nuzzle her son.

"Also," Hiccup said as he wrapped his arms around his mother, "I need to teach you how to hug. This whole nuzzling thing is kinda creepy from another human."

She tentatively brought her hands up near his neck. He didn't show any signs of feeling threatened, so she continued the motion. It felt oddly fulfilling. Old, forgotten habits surfaced as she squeezed him in close.

"You hug like Dad does," he wheezed before Valka set him down. He ducked into the latrine and said, "Even Toothless sometimes can't handle a hug from Dad. One time, Toothless saved my hide and, well, all of Berk, and Dad pretty much lifted him off the ground and almost choked him in hugging him as thanks."

"Yes…" Valka drawled out. She didn't know what to make of that. Maybe Stoick tolerated Toothless around the village because they killed the demonic queen and ended the dragon war. That wouldn't stop him from hazing Toothless on occasion to remind him who's in charge.

She had to clear her mind. Maybe a flight? Yes, that would do it. However, when she saw Toothless, she decided to snatch two fish with one dive. Since he was awake and appeared to be feeling a lot better, she could clear her mind and also make amends with the dragon.

Whether out of boredom or to settle differences, play-fighting was not uncommon among dragons, especially when they were hungry. Sometimes, it would be a simple stare-down with some snapping at each other or trying to lunge around the other dragon to nip his tail. It often became more intense with tumbling, grappling, biting, and clawing, but the only injuries that resulted were very minor and superficial. Several dragons in the nest quickly learned how to play-fight with a creature who lacked the protection of scales and Valka loved it! She loved the struggle and exhilaration of pitting her speed and reflexes against a dragon's. She loved the healing effect play-fighting had on the mind and body.

She turned to Toothless and jut out her chin with a friendly chuff. The dragon returned the gesture and took a step forward. Valka then picked up her staff that was lying nearby and twirled it around once, projecting her desire to play-fight with him. Toothless warbled as he crouched his front end down with his rump up high, tail playfully waving in the air.

She saw how Toothless had moved the previous day, flying and jumping from dragon to dragon, clawing and biting. He was an overwhelming blur of fury. There was no way she could win against him, but that wasn't the point.

Toothless retracted his teeth to flash a gummy smile before he pounced. Valka tumbled to the side and the two lunged and twisted around each other. One of them was trying to tap the dragon on the snout while the other wanted to pin his opponent down.

Valka swung her staff and Toothless tried to snatch it with his maw. A quick flick evaded that and spun it around to threaten to come down on his snout but a quick jerk back from Toothless dodged the attack. Toothless lurched forward and knocked her staff aside with the back of his paw. He jumped up to pounce and she rolled underneath him, grabbing her staff in the process, and jumped over a swipe of the tail.

She could tell that Toothless was holding back, even more than just minding his teeth and claws, so Valka goaded him into fighting more aggressively. She managed to sneak in a couple quick taps to his snout which turned him into a whole new animal and she suddenly found herself pinned between the stone wall and the dragon's back.

"Toothless, let's not kill Valka or things will become really awkward, alright?" Hiccup chided, but there was mirth in his voice. He could tell they were just playing. Still, he seemed to be puzzled at such a sight.

Valka closed her eyes as she scratched the side of the dragon's head, eliciting a soft purr; to the victor goes the spoils.

There was still something she wanted to discuss, though. With so many years of experience, it was easy to project her thoughts for the dragon. _{Have you forgiven me for trying to steal your Firefly away from you?}_

Toothless warbled and slid onto his side to receive a belly rub. _{Yes. I completely understand why you thought I was a captive and I hold no ill feeling for that. I think I'm even willing to call you Dragon Savior again.}_

Valka crooned at that as she worked her way up to scratch at the base of the dragon's sensor lobes. _{You still hold some resentment for me. I want to be seen as worthy of your trust and respect. I am surprised you take such great offense to me leaving my offspring alone for so long, considering how dragons raise their own young. Things still worked out well. Can you blame me for my reasoning?}_

 _{No, and that is not the quarrel I have with you. We come from an island where land-striders and dragons have found peace and can live together. It is a blow to your pride, I understand, for him to succeed where you have failed, but he is not lying.}_

 _{Show me.}_

 _{No. Firefly will tell. I will show you once you accept what he says.}_

Valka paused in her ministrations to Toothless. She ended up petting his tongue in response to the dragon opening his mouth wide and retracting his teeth. Cloudjumper, who was lounging nearby, looked down his nose at the black dragon for panting and purring at such ministrations. Valka looked over at her son, who was leaning against the cave wall, watching with a fond smile on his face.

"Looks like you two are getting along just grand," Hiccup said with a chuckle. He shifted over and slid down to sit between his dragon's forelegs. Toothless gave his cheek a little lick and started rubbing his face against Hiccup's

"Well enough," Valka said. She leaned against his side, in the void in front of his haunch. "I offend you. Reject dragons as friends on Berk. I sorry. I try hard. I-"

Hiccup held up a hand. "I get it. I have no right to blame you for having a hard time accepting such an idea. I'm sorry I was so demanding that you just blindly accept it."

"I try hard. You have patience with me?"

Hiccup smiled. "Certainly." He suddenly stared at the ground. "I should fly out, though. Gotta find Drago and talk some sense into the guy. I'll be back-"

"What?!" Valka shrieked. "Find Drago?! Insane! You die! Drago kill you! Bad Hiccup!"

She grabbed Hiccup's arm. Toothless growled warningly and Hiccup tried to shake himself loose, but the grip only tightened.

"Sheesh, you too?" he said in annoyance with a roll of his eyes. "You're just like Dad."

"No find Drago," she said in a stern voice. "Just found you. Not want to lose you. Stay here. Stay safe."

Hiccup finally managed to shake himself free as the panic subsided in Valka and her grip loosened. "Alright, I won't go looking for Drago. I really do need to hurry back home anyway. Dad's gonna give it to me good for running off like I did. Best not to compound the problem." His face suddenly brightened. "You could come back with me, at least to visit. Let me show you what Berk is today from as far away or as close up as you're comfortable."

"Stay!" Valka blurted out. "I mean, _please_ stay. Not long. Just today. You hungry. I hungry. Dragons hungry. We eat. I show you dragons. We fly together. I show you more of Dragon King."

Hiccup chuckled. "I still can't believe you call _her_ the dragon _king_."

Valka chortled. "I not know he was she back then. Early days. I not hear dragons. Knew so little. Just knew this one, this Dragon King... " she deflated as the words eluded her.

"Controlled the flock?" Hiccup helpfully supplied.

"No, not that. Not like demonic queen. Like king. King watch over people. He…"

Hiccup snapped his fingers. "Ah, reign. The dragon king reigns over the dragons."

"Yes, that! King reigns. Not control. Not dominate. Well, on occasion when one gets too unruly. She reigns. Protects. I know that even way back when I not hear dragons. I just not know dragon king was female. Name stuck. Nobody bothered."

Hiccup looked thoughtful at that. "Huh. I guess I never considered that as an option. After the Red Death, I just always assumed… I mean the Dragon King was nice to us, but I never considered she would actually actively provide and protect."

"Oh yes! In fact, it's time. Let's feed. Dragon King join us."

"The king will be there? I hope she saves some fish for us."

"Oh, she _will_. You see. come."

Hiccup smiled. "Lead the way, Mom!"

Valka's heart exploded with joy and she nuzzled Hiccup. "Son!"

"Hug, not nuzzle."

"Ah. Right."

* * *

 **A/N:**  
Thanks for reading and thank you Colorful Crayola for being my beta buddy.

Toothlessgolfer, Your two-shot actually did inspire some ideas that I plan on implementing in my story. I'm definitely taking things a different direction but I'll give shout-outs when due.


	8. Resolved

**Resolved**

Stoick rolled out from under his dragon's wing, up to his feet, and stretched, allowing the freezing air to fully wake him up. He answered nature's call a short way away and pulled his long, heavy fur coat closed again as he walked up to his dragon, who was also limbering up and shaking the snow off his body. Most of it ended up landing right on Gobber, who whined about the cold and curled up tighter, refusing to acknowledge the new day.

Looking back on the past several years, Stoick still couldn't believe all that had happened. Five years ago, if someone had suggested that Vikings could live at peace with dragons, he would have challenged the fool to holmgang and beat some sense into him.

Four years ago, though he shared his home with his strange son and a hyperactive and overprotective Night Fury, he never could bring himself to touch any of those scaly beasts. The memories of pain and loss were just too fresh to see a docile creature even though his village was littered with Dragons. Well, most of them flew off on their own accord to nest on nearby islands after Hiccup woke up sans his left foot. It was just as well. The forests and seas around Berk could feed only so many mouths.

Three years ago, Stoick took his first ride on a dragon. The sheer desperation to save his son who was held captive on the flagship of a massive armada drove him to do it. That short flight had been nothing but pure terror. It wasn't soon enough that he finally landed on a ship so he could get off that beast to dodge thrown spears and ax swings.

Two years ago, he caught himself talking to Toothless. Well, more like talking _at_ the dragon, ranting about drama in the village he had to settle involving some sheep and a broken fence. He suddenly stopped, mid-pace, mid-word, and stared at Toothless, realizing that it wasn't right to subject a person to his grumblings. And that person was a dragon. At that epiphany, Stoick quickly removed himself from there to have some ale at the Great Hall. He didn't sleep well that night.

It was a little under a year ago that Stoick had his son undergo The Trial. It was a long-standing tradition for the chief's heir, before claiming the throne, that basically boiled down to a game of capture the flag that involved scrimmages to test their fighting prowess. Hiccup and his gang against their parents. The younger generation never won, but it served as a great way to test their mettle and strategy; their inevitable defeat helped to determine in which areas they needed extra training. The manipulative boy convinced the council that dragons should be a part of The Trial since they were an integral part of life on Berk and he and Toothless were joined at the hip.

The conclusion of The Trial was… unexpected. To Stoick and anyone who wasn't in on Hiccup's plan, that is.

 _And now look at me_ , Stoick thought to himself as he chuckled inwardly, _sleeping wedged between the belly and wing of a dragon to stay warm on an airborne scouting mission._

Gobber finally hauled himself to his feet - well, foot plus peg. "Thanks fer let'in me cuddle with you and yer dragon." he drowsily said.

"For the last time, it's not cuddling," Stoick growled. "It's just sharing heat."

"And thank _you_ ," Gobber turned to the Rumblehorn, "for not kicking me _quite_ hard enough to break my ribs."

The dragon and Stoick both snorted at the same time and did a double-take at each other.

"You deserved it," Stoick scoffed. "Never in all my life have I ever heard a sound so loud or irritating as your snoring."

"Ha!" Gobber said. "You think _I_ snore? _You_ snore even worse!"

"Do not."

"Do too!"

"Not."

"Too. Just ask Hiccup."

"Hiccup gets plenty of sleep."

"Only when his head is wedged between his dragon's cheeks."

Stoick gave a disgusted look at his friend. "Ew! Also," he punched the blacksmith's shoulder, "that's my _son_ you're talking about."

Gobber shrugged it off and wandered away to relieve himself. The previous day, when the dragons had started flagging in their flight, they found a rock to land on before they all just fell into the sea. Fortunately, this island had a couple pines and a trickling stream fed by an ice deposit that had formed from rainwater collecting and freezing in a large pocket in the ground. Well, there was no trickling stream until they applied a little dragonfire to it. The water tasted alright if one ignored the rotten egg smell from the dragon's breath.

When they landed last night, they also discovered that the shore was occupied by a stray seal. " _Was_ " being the operative word, as now their bellies were occupied by the seal. After carving off a couple stakes for himself and Gobber, Stoick couldn't stop staring in fascination as the dragons crunched through the rest of the carcass.

Gobber returned from his journey into the copse. "Now, where's my dragon," he idly said as he wandered towards a rounded lump of snow. "Here, Grump. Oh, Grumpy Grump. Grump ump diddly ump bump."

He shouldered the pile of snow, which groaned in response.

"C'mon, Grump," Stoick said. "We've had our rest. Time to head out again."

The pile of snow went absolutely still.

"Aww, c'mon, Grump," Gobber chided. "It's a beautiful day full of clouds and snow and ice and stuff."

The pile of snow continued to remain motionless, probably hoping to go unnoticed.

Gobber walked up to the pile of snow and turned around. "If ya don't get up, I'm officially threatening ta fart right in yer-"

WHOOSH!

Suddenly, there was no longer a pile of snow, but a cloud of snow that settled to reveal a Grump-sized depression in the ground.

Gobber chuckled. "Works every time!"

He looked up at his rapidly departing dragon, then coyly over at Skullcrusher. "Say there, Skull, I seem to have, uh, misplaced my dragon. I don't suppose you'd mind, uh, letting me ride…"

The Rumblehorn sidled away and insistently nosed at Stoick.

########

* * *

########

Hiccup gave a good tug on the last leather strap to cinch the buckle. "And that," he gestured to his dragon, "is how I saddle up Toothless."

Toothless shifted around, taking some deep breaths and flicking his tail to check the fit. Valka slowly walked around, examining the saddle.

"You don't mind all... this?" she asked.

Toothless didn't even bother to respond beyond giving a friendly huff and a nudge at his rider to mount up.

"Hey, look at that," Hiccup said in a lilting voice as he hauled himself up. "She just gestured to all of you. How original."

Valka shrugged. "Seems strange to me is all. Toothless not horse."

"Well, how do _you_ stay on Cloudjumper? I'm sure he wouldn't appreciate having to always worry about flinging you off if he ever makes a sharp turn or takes a sudden dive, right?"

Valka shrugged before she hopped up on the dragon's extended leg and vaulted up to his back. "Simple. I stay on top."

With that, Cloudjumper spun around and leaped off the ledge of their cave with Toothless following on his tail. The two dragons ascended for a while, simply enjoying the feeling of wind rushing under their wings. They gently twirled around in the air and Hiccup watched as his mother shifted around on her dragon's back. She flashed him a smile and Cloudjumper tucked his wings to roll like a loose barrel on a storm-tossed ship. Valka easily ran around the circumference of his stout neck, using her staff for balance and occasionally hooking it around the dragon's horns for stability.

"Well, guess that answers that," Hiccup dryly remarked. "Not bad considering you're, what, almost forty?"

His words were lost in the wind, but he could hear Toothless helpfully projecting what his rider said so Cloudjumper could pass it on to Valka.

"I tell you one thing," Valka said, as Hiccup heard her through Cloudjumper's ears. "You don't slow down when you get old. You get old when you slow down. I not ready to be old yet."

The sky was clear and blue, but they soared up to where the clouds would normally hang and leveled off to coast. Hiccup looked over at his mother and grinned from ear to ear and she returned it right back. Flying has always been nothing but an uplifting exhilaration and flying with others even more, but the very notion that he was flying with his long-lost mother made his heart burst with joy. It was really difficult to feel any misgivings so high in the sky.

The icy wind whipped his face sore without his helmet - which he had lost when he was initially plucked off Toothless' back - but he didn't even care. The sun sparkled in the rippling water far below. The endless blue sky made him feel alive and free in a way he could never describe to others. Everything was absolutely perfect!

"So," Valka shouted over the winds as her dragon sidled up to Toothless, wingtip to wingtip, "Tell me about this blonde woman and her Nadder."

Hiccup gaped at his mother. Toothless had been projecting images of Astrid and Stormfly. Joy-flying like this reminded him of them and he missed them. But was Valka actually coming around to accept dragons as friends on Berk? Was she really… "Are you really asking me about the dragons my friends ride?"

Valka nodded.

"On Berk?"

She nodded again.

Hiccup leaned back in the saddle and closed his eyes. "Astrid and Stormfly don't just fly. They dance! The sky is their stage and they love to perform. Toothless and I love goofing off in the air, but Astrid and Stormfly practice day and night with different maneuvers and ways to fly together. Astrid can fly from her dragon's back, balanced on her head, from the tail… anywhere. She has this really awesome move to transfer to another dragon in mid-air where… she…"

Hiccup lost his tongue as his mother slid down Cloudjumper's leg to hang from the talons. The dragon flicked over Toothless and Valka dropped down to land right behind Hiccup.

"Like that?" she asked.

Hiccup beamed at her over his shoulder. "Yeah. Exactly like that! It's not polite, though, to hop on another dragon without asking-"

Toothless flicked a sensor lobe back against Hiccup's hand, the palm of which was exposed through a cutout in his mittens. _{She asked for permission first. If she didn't, she would have never been able to touch me.}_

Valka, who heard that through the contact of her hands on Toothless' back, said, "Oh, really, is that so?"

Toothless craned his neck to flash her something between a feral grin and a snarl, which she returned. The dragon flipped upside-down to drop Valka on to Cloudjumper's back and the chase was on.

"I don't recall having ever agreed to this," Hiccup shouted as he hunched down low and worked the tailfin through his dragon's loops, spins, and dives.

Still, he actually had a lot of fun with their impromptu game of tag in the sky. Well, more like a game of "snatch the other rider off their dragon." Hiccup and Valka whooped with joy as they twisted around high above the sea. Toothless had the advantage of speed, but Valka was quite mobile around her dragon. Soon, all four of them were left panting and agreed to a stalemate.

Hiccup leaned back in the saddle, resting his head against his dragon's spine, and let out a contented sigh. They were flying much slower, now, high in the sky, idly riding the winds and enjoying the moment.

"I still can't believe Hooligans friends to dragons," Valka said from Cloudjumper's back. "No, wrong words," she quickly amended. "Believe, yes, but… hard to imagine. The thought of Stoick on dragon back. Or Spitelout." she snorted. "So, what, dragons participate in Thawfest, now?"

Hiccup sat up and smiled at her. "Actually, yes. Toothless netted me first place one year. Well, almost. We _could_ have had it, which is good enough for me."

Toothless growled. _{That was so frustrating! You made us lose that race on purpose just to make whiny Cougar feel better.}_

"Aw, c'mon," Hiccup playfully chided, "it wasn't _that_ bad."

 _{Yes it was! You were deaf to dragons at the time but Hookfang was actually quite upset that he won that race. If he had any doubt about me overtaking him, instead of flying Cougar through the race course, he would have sat on him instead for how he treated you.}_

Hiccup shrugged. "That's actually why I waited until the very last moment to jam the tailfin down and force you to land."

 _{I wanted to sit on you until you turned blue for doing that!}_

"But…?" Hiccup prodded with a lilt in his voice.

Toothless huffed. _{Allowing Cougar to win did make him more loyal to you, which I suppose is just another example of my Firefly turning enemies into allies.}_

Hiccup lovingly rubbed Toothless' head. Humility was a trait far removed from the Night Fury - Hiccup always told people there was an entire clan of haughty and restless warriors behind his eyes - but loyalty and trust in his rider were as close as his very breath. Hiccup could never suppress his old habits developed over his first fifteen years on Midgard. He had survived as the weak runt on a Viking island that was constantly under dragon siege by subtly manipulating people to ignore him. Gaining a dragon as a loyal friend changed him a lot less than some people feared… or hoped.

"I even got Dad to let me include dragons in The Trial," Hiccup said. "You've heard about that before, right?"

Valka raised an eyebrow. "Really? Dragons in The Trial? I saw Stoick undergo The Trial before _his_ sire lost his head to a dragon. He lost, of course. Heir never win. Just excuse to teach humility and know what to train in."

Toothless crooned at the memory. Hiccup chuckled. "Yeah, well, I convinced the council that, if I'm to do the trial, dragons should be a part of it too. So many of us ride dragons nowadays and trying to pry Toothless away from me never works out well for anyone."

"So I see."

Hiccup slumped at the reminder of the previous day when Valka "rescued" Toothless from Hiccup. "Oh, right, that." He perked up. "But you should have been there. So there we were: Dad and his gang on dragonback, me and my gang on dragonback. They had their flag well-guarded from land, water, and air. They even convinced some extra dragons to help protect the flag by bribing them with fish. They thought they had me whipped for sure."

"How'd that turn out?"

"Amazing!" Hiccup closed his eyes. "You know how dragons are, and you can imagine how the ones from the Red Death's Nest would be. When the horn blew to signal the start of The Trial, I-"

Hiccup was cut off by a roar from his dragon. And Cloudjumper. And a few hundred other dragons not too far away. The iceberg that made up the dragon sanctuary suddenly exploded with color as hundreds of dragons poured out to flock close behind.

Hiccup raised an eyebrow. "Looks like they want to play with us, too? I need a rest."

Valka looked over at Hiccup. "Come, follow me. Dragon King join us. We all feast."

Hiccup grinned. "I hope she saves a few fish in the waters for us."

Toothless stared at Cloudjumper for a moment, then barked and fluttered his wings in excitement.

"What is it?" Hiccup asked.

 _{Oh, nothing.}_ Toothless flicked a glance at Cloudjumper. _{Don't worry, I'm saving the surprise for him. His eyes are going to get so big.}_

Hiccup cast a pleading look at his mother. "No fair! They're conspiring against me. What's the big surprise?"

"Oh, you'll see," Valka said. She held up a hand to motion for them to hold their position, which was a little ways away from the dragon sanctuary and close to the surface of the open water. All the dragons settled into flying in a tight circle, all flying in the same direction.

Hiccup lost track of his mother and her dragon amidst all the colors and scales and wings, but a loud splash drew his attention to the sea below. His jaw dropped.

Two massive tusks shot up from the water, followed by the rest of the Dragon King's head breaking the surface. The massive sea dragon opened her large maw wide and heaved out to send thousands of fish flying up into the air. Hiccup found himself holding on tight as Toothless joined the flock in a feeding frenzy to pluck the airborne fish mid-flight or snatch them from the surface of the water when they fell back down.

Toothless looked back and tried to give a smirk around the mouthful of halibut, a rare delicacy for dragons that catch mainly fish that swim near the surface. _{I'm starting to like this great sea dragon.}_

Valka found them again, gleefully laughing with carefree abandon. "In early days, Dragon King see me give treats to new dragons. My way to welcome them. King like idea. Take fish from deep down. Give to us. These tastier than fish near surface."

Toothless confirmed this as he purred between gulps of fish. He skimmed over the water a few times to pluck up more.

They spent the rest of the morning simply joy-flying around the nest. Valka would sometimes hop onto Toothless' back and hug her son from behind - she was getting better at remembering to hug instead of nuzzle. Hiccup felt like he was in Valhalla as he flew with her and without a single care in the world. Valka actually listened intently as Hiccup filled her in on the dragons on Berk. She looked nervous every time Hiccup mentioned Stoick, but she did brighten up to hear that the chief started riding a dragon eventually.

"Ya know," Hiccup said, "I think it's only logical to conclude that I should run off on Dad more often."

 _{I contest that!}_

Hiccup stuck out his tongue at his dragon. "I didn't ask you. But think about it. The first time Dad rode a dragon was when I was captured and held hostage on a Berserker ship. The first time he flew Skullcrusher any appreciable distance was when I wandered off to find Toothless' family and got in some deep trouble. He actually saved me from a Skrill. One could argue that my flying off is forcing Dad to become more comfortable around dragons."

 _{That still doesn't mean you should always fly off just because you don't like what he has to say!}_

" _And_ " Hiccup went on, pointedly ignoring his dragon's commentaries, "this time, I found my long-lost mother and I can introduce you to him and…" Hiccup froze in thought. He would have a mommy _and_ a daddy! "We could be a family again!"

Valka stiffened. "A… family. Yes," she said quietly, thoughtfully.

"Yes!" Hiccup exclaimed as he threw his hands up in the air. "I mean, you're my mother. I accept that. And Stoick is my father, right? I mean, for real?"

Valka slapped him on the ear.

It took him a moment to realize what had offended her so terribly. He could recall, in his younger days, hearing some villagers questioning whether a bear of a man like Stoick really could be the father of such a scrawny little runt. Such naysayers quickly shut their mouths when he challenged them to Holmgang and nobody else would even consider claiming fatherhood.

Hiccup twisted around in the saddle to look his mother in the face. "Sorry. I wasn't thinking. But you and Dad could get together again. We could be a family."

Valka grabbed a handhold on the saddle and shifted around to sit in front of Hiccup, facing backward on Toothless so they could talk face-to-face. She looked at him with sad eyes. "Hiccup, it's not… I can't. It's not so easy. I am mother because I give birth. Stoick is father because he mated me. But for us to be-" she sniffled, "to still be mates. I don't know."

Hiccup scrunched his face, trying not to look too hurt. "But you're my parents. Both of you. You're married. It's not that difficult, right? Right?"

Toothless snorted. _{Of course it is; they're land-striders! Land-striders make everything more complicated than it needs to be.}_

"Toothless!" Hiccup smacked his dragon's sensor lobe with the back of his hand, which actually stung himself more than the dragon. Toothless warbled an apology for taking that too far.

"Twenty years," Valka mumbled. "Twenty. Long time. Stoick remarry by now. Must have. Needs heirs, Foolish to keep only one."

"No!" Hiccup insisted. "He never remarried. No concubines, no courting, nothing. I've heard only through stories, but he used to be a much more cheerful man before you were stolen away by…" He flicked a glance at Cloudjumper. "Sorry, Cloud, not blaming you. Red Death and whatnot."

Valka groaned. "He really alone? Twenty years?! Twenty! How? Why? He need to take another woman. Need more heirs. Protect future of tribe."

Hiccup shrugged. "I guess I took it for granted. Gobber says Dad died on the inside when he lost you. It was like he pushed forward as an empty husk. Spitelout said that Stoick the father and family man died that day, leaving only the cold and calculating chief. He said he had to forget the brother he knew to figure out how to handle this new one. Mulch said that Dad was always a jolly man, always smiling, always optimistic, but losing his wife sucked all that out of him. It broke his spirit. He…" Hiccup realized he was babbling, then noticed his mother was silently crying.

"Sorry," he quickly said, eyes downcast, "I really am sorry, Mom. You didn't need to hear all that." He forced a smile and failed miserably at making it look remotely genuine. "No pressure, right?"

"My fault," Valka softly said to herself. "My fault. His loss. Bad. Unfair. Must try."

"No, you don't have to," Hiccup said, trying to placate her. "I never thought about this until now. It would be…" he scratched for the words, "unpleasant. When I return, I'll say nothing about you. Just that I didn't find Drago, oh darn, and I suppose I'm grounded for a week, yessir, sorry sir. If you want to remain in hiding, I'm content with-"

"No!" Valka sternly said, her steely eyes staring off at the horizon, toward Berk. "I must. Too long I hide. Too long I cower. Scared to go back. Selfish! Pathetic! I'm not coward. Not afraid." She gave a sad smile. "Okay, I lied. Afraid, yes. Very afraid. For Stoick. For Cloudjumper. For you. But I must. I go. Tomorrow. With you. Sleep here at nest then we fly out?"

Hiccup smiled up at her. He realized he had tears trickling down and freezing on his cheeks. "Deal!" he said and gave her a hug. "Mom."

"Son!"

They both held that embrace for a long time as they slowly glided back toward the nest.

* * *

 **A/N:  
** Thanks for reading and thank you Colorful Crayola for being my beta buddy.

I have an announcement to make. I'll be taking a short break from this story. Yeah, yeah, sorry. Isaac Asimov, the best writer of all history, once talked about his writing habits. He wrote over 500 books and said he could never just sit down and crank out a single story. He would have several projects ongoing at any time and would flit from one to another all the time. This is my only WIP so I just need to take a break every now and then. I'll see you in 2-3 weeks. Well, maybe I won't; that would just be creepy if I could see you. I really just have some Terrible Terrors hiding where you can't find them

Alright, onward to review responses. Thank you so much for your feedback!

Guest, this story won't be focused on Hiccstrid but there will be some elements of that.

Dragonider's Fury, yeah, it was a spur-of-the-moment decision to make the Dragon King a female. Just because I love messing with ya. :P Oh, and as for impact later on, I have two words for you. Baby Bewilderbeasts.

Toothlessgolpfer, yep, high probability of a reunion coming up. It'll turn out a little different from movie canon.


	9. Confined

**A/N:**

Hey, I'm back. It only took me twice as long as I initially planned. Sorry for the wait. I, uhhh… yeah.

* * *

 **Confined**

Astrid stomped around in her cage. She couldn't believe that she allowed herself to be captured so easily! At least Stormfly managed to escape when they were ambushed; that dragon was so perceptive that Astrid always joked about her having precognition. Astrid had told her to go get help but the dragon just came right back and allowed herself to be captured… to save that scumbag Eret of all reasons!

"Has your pacing worn through the floor and out to freedom yet?" Ruffnut casually asked from where she leaned against the cage bars.

Astrid scowled at her friend and grabbed the bars in a futile attempt to bend them apart. Of course, that was as fruitful as the last twenty failed attempts. In the dim torchlight of the dark hold, she could strain to see that the thick bars were that special greenish "dragon-proof" iron the riders came to loathe. The cage was large enough to hold a Timberjack but was serving as a prison for herself and her four friends instead.

She inspected the joints and hinges. For the fifth time. They were unshakeable and presented no obvious exploits. Still. The large dragon-size door and the smaller person-size door were both secured with heavy padlocks. Ruffnut had already tried to pick the lock with a hairpin when she thought the guards in the hold were distracted. It turned out they were much more observant than she thought.

"I'll kill him!" Astrid hissed. "Next time I see that half-troll, bread-eating lunch bucket-"

The loud clattering of boots in the hallway made her stop and divert her attention from her fuming. Three guards approached, two of whom were holding Eret by his arms to forcefully escort him along.

Astrid's lips curled into a feral smirk.

"Is it really necessary to be so rough?" Eret implored the guards. "I can escort myself, thank you ver-"

He froze when his eyes locked onto Astrid's, then he started kicking and thrashing. "No no no! Not there! Not that cell! Don't toss me in with those crazy devil girls! They both want to spatchcock me for very different reasons. I'll share a cage with a dragon. At least my death will be quick."

His struggling was to no avail. The third guard unlocked the door and held his spear at the ready for anyone who thought of making a break for it. Eret was roughly shoved in by the other two guards. He skidded to a stop and cringed at the sight of five cellmates who were quite dissatisfied with anything that involved him.

"He's just as dreamy as I remember," Ruffnut swooned. "Look at that chest hair. It's so… dense… and… luscious!"

Astrid gagged. _Four_ dissatisfied cellmates, then.

"Uh, hi," Eret said nervously as the door slammed shut behind him. "Fancy seeing you guys-"

WHAM!

Out of nowhere, Astrid threw her fist at Eret and caught the side of his face. The man recoiled back against the bars. Astrid let out an angry battle cry and lunged at him again, but he deftly slid to the side, caught her wrist, and used his greater weight to pin it to the bar of the cage.

"Now hold on, lass," he said, but Astrid brought a knee up into his groin. "Guards!" he wheezed out as he doubled over, "Your prisoner is being assaulted!"

The guards, though, were palming copper coins and placing bets on who would win.

"I'll kill you!" Astrid shrieked as she tried to kick Eret's ribs but he grabbed her ankle and pulled her down.

The two tumbled around on the floor until Ruffnut and Tuffnut plucked Astrid off Eret and Fishlegs positioned himself between them.

Snotlout was content to stand to the side, casually inspecting his fingernails. "Told ya," he said to a nearby guard. "I run with a dull crowd."

"Thank you," Eret said as he picked himself up, wincing at the various pains. "I'm glad to see you are more reasonable… uhhh..." He realized he didn't know the boy's name.

"Fishlegs," the boy said. Then, turning to Astrid, "Really, Astrid, this is not helping. He's a prisoner just like us, now."

"My _dragon_ is a prisoner because of him!" she screamed.

"Technically, Stormfly was caught because she _chose_ to come back," Ruffnut said.

Astrid turned to glare at Ruffnut, who yawned in response.

"And why did Stormfly come back?" Fishlegs muttered. He went completely ignored.

Eret leveled a finger at Astrid and said, " _You_ got captured because you made the stupid decision to go find Drago. Against my warnings! Bloody brilliant job with that, by the way. Really kicked Drago flat on his arse. Showed him what for!"

Astrid huffed and started pacing agitatedly. "At least I had the guts to stand up against him instead of bow down like a coward!"

"Coward?!" Eret held up his hand with the broken finger. "See this? I got this because I stood up for _you_!" He leaned in close. "Yes, I saved your pompous, pretentious, arrogant ass! And _that_ was for no other reason than the fact that your stupid dragon saved me."

"What did you call my dragon?!"

Eret shrugged. "Whatever. Point is, you owe me!"

Still ignored by all, Fishlegs quietly mused to himself, "But why did Storm-" He went rigid. "Oh. Well, makes sense, I guess, but how would she have known?"

"Oh, _please_ ," Astrid said, "The best thing you could have done for me was to die. Why _did_ Stormfly come back?"

"Is there an echo in this cell?" Fishlegs mumbled.

"I don't know!" Eret shouted, throwing his arms up in frustration, "But I saved your life and something you probably value even more, so I deserve a little more respect than a kick in the nuts and your shrill screaming!"

Astrid crossed her arms. "Begging will get you farther than making up some heroic act. You accomplished _nothing_. Drago got the jump on us but we have allies. They'll just hold us here, question us, maybe beat us a little. Rescue will come soon."

"You really don't get it," Eret mused. He looked over at Ruffnut, whose face showed that at least she understood what he was getting at.

"Get _what_?" Astrid fumed.

Still ignored, Fishlegs muttered, "That Stormfly must have somehow arrived at the conclusion that…" he nervously looked around at the guards nearby. "Nevermind."

Eret casually leaned against the bars of the cell. "You're a shield maiden, right?"

Astrid stepped right up into Eret's face, forehead to forehead. "Try something funny and see what happens. I _dare_ you!"

Eret leaned back with a casual smile. "I'll pass, but it's not me you should be worried about. You would be helpless against Drago and his many crewmen and the dragons he controls. I need you to cooperate with me. You really don't want the alternative, if you know what I mean."

"Wait," Fishlegs interjected, "you mean to say Drago would have forced…" His face paled. "And Stormfly is quite perceptive. She made a very similar gambit in The Trial, and I bet she would have suspected-" he cut himself off with a nervous glance at the guards.

Tuffnut snorted. "Drago said he'd put those lips to good use but didn't say which- OW"

Ruffnut grabbed a handful of his tunic and threw him to the ground with a solid kick to follow. "Not cool bro."

"So, it really is that simple," Eret said. "You're in no position to bargain, but at least you have a choice. Do things my way or Drago takes the reigns."

Snotlout sidled up and whispered, "Uh, guys, shouldn't we wait until we're alone to discuss such things?"

Eret shrugged. "Not an option. There will always be guards here, watching, listening, reporting to Drago. What, you think he's stupid enough to shove us all into a cell to conspire together _and_ give us privacy?"

"That's usually how it goes," Tuffnut said. "Trappers trap us, we butt our heads together, come up with a plan, and escape. Making fun of Fishlegs is usually mixed in there somewhere."

Eret scoffed. "What's next, you lure a guard up to the door then reach through the bars and grab his keys? Or how about trying to make a break for it next time they open the door?"

"Shh!" Snotlout hissed. "You're giving away all our foolproof plans!"

Eret gave him a flat stare. "Your loss when you fail. You won't like how things go when Drago decides that trying things my way isn't working in his favor."

"And what _is_ your way?" Snotlout demanded.

"Simple. Drago has tied my life to your usefulness. He wants to find that Bewilderbeast that attacked my fort the other day. That's what all the crewmen on this ship are calling that giant ice-spitting sea dragon."

"Well, I ain't telling," Astrid declared with an upturned chin and folded arms.

Eret rolled his eyes. "Because you don't know."

"Do too!"

Eret sighed. "Lying to me is not going to help you. You haven't even _seen_ a Bewilderbeast. Don't try to deny it. Fishlegs was perplexed by the large bubbles it was exhaling and Drago saw right through your facade, Astrid. The best way we can show Drago that he doesn't want to torture and kill us is to provide some reason for him to want to keep us alive and whole. And the best way to do that right now is to help him narrow down his search."

"Alright, simple," Snotlout said, pushing off the bars he was leaning against to pace around. "We'll tell the guards to bring Drago down here so we can negotiate. We get around on our dragons, so we can trade our freedom for marking on a map where we know the Bewilderbeast cannot be."

Eret slowly shook his head. "You don't really get it yet. We're in no position to negotiate anything. Drago will take what he wants by any means he deems necessary. You must think in terms of what gives him what he wants. Even after we narrow his search, we may still prove to be valuable captives. What would he gain by releasing us?"

"Honor," Astrid said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Eret rolled his eyes. "Yeah, honor. Sure. You Vikings are a fascinating people, when observed from a distance. I wouldn't hold my breath on your honor plea working. It's not a good business model."

Astrid balled her fingers into a fist but Fishlegs grabbed her wrist with a speed one would not imagine for someone so rotund. She jerked her arm free but it was enough to prevent things from escalating.

"So, we help Drago narrow down his search and just pray he wants to release us?" she ground out.

Eret nodded grimly. "Pretty much. We should also figure out what service we can offer that would justify leaving us alive. Now, let's talk numbers. The dragon thief must be in the general area of my fort to have flown out, attacked, and still be able to fly back home. How far can a dragon fly in a day? A couple day's good sailing?"

Fishlegs offered, "Given good winds for sailing and a rotating crew, three days and nights by ship would be one day on dragonback. They're a lot faster but need to stop for food and rest occasionally. Also, keep in mind that a contrary wind will slow a ship to a crawl as they'd need to row. Dragons, though slowed down by a headwind, can it to their advantage and rest while in flight.

"Tell me more about this torture," Tuffnut inquired. "Are we talking slapping and punching, or more along the lines of lopping off limbs? Because if it's the limbs, I want to lose a foot. Hiccup's fancy-schmancy new foot thing that flips around is getting all the attention and I want one."

Ruffnut glared at him.

"What?" Tuffnut said, "Can you blame me for being a little jealous? Oh-oh-oh! Maybe they'll _tickle_ us to death! That would be the most amazing way to go out!"

"I still don't get why Stormfly would intervene for-" Astrid pointed at Eret, refusing to say his name. Fishlegs said nothing but Astrid could tell he was holding something back.

After a lot of glaring, she managed to get Fishlegs to say, "She must have known she'd be captured." He turned to Eret. "Did she say anything to you?"

"What?" Eret asked, completely bemused.

"The Nadder," Fishlegs said as casually as one might observe whether it's currently raining. "Did the Nadder say anything to you?"

"Yeah, she said to stay away from Astrid because she's bat-shit crazy!"

Fishlegs quickly stepped between Astrid and Eret before she could retaliate. "Not helping," he hissed at Eret. "You really don't want to keep this up."

"But she… I…" Eret started to say. He suddenly deflated. "You're right. Let's just try to get through this."

Fishlegs noticed that Eret was trying to splint his broken finger with a strip torn from the ragged tail of his tunic. "Here, let me help you with that," he offered. "I've assisted our village elder and healer on occasion."

Eret flinched away at first, but then he looked deep into Fishleg's face and found no guile and let the boy set the broken bone and tie the splint.

"Thanks," Eret said as Fishlegs cinched the splint tight and tied it off. "Listen, guys, I realize we've been enemies. You've been a thorn in my side and I've been that one guy who won't turn his life upside-down because you don't like my business. But we're in the same boat. Literally. Let's try to get along."

Astrid glowered silently. The twins shared a sullen look. Even Snotlout was uncharacteristically quiet and subdued.

Finally, after a long silence, Astrid said, "We'll need a map to draw on."

########

* * *

########

Ruffnut took in a deep breath and let out a noisy sigh. Then another. Then another. Then another.

It was so _boring_ in their cage.

Astrid had become a kettle on the fire, fit to boil over at any moment. Fishlegs was quiet and withdrawn. Well, everyone was.

Sure, there was a brief spurt of excitement when a guard brought down a few maps of the Barbaric Archipelago. Astrid marked some areas around Berk where she had flown. Ruffnut noticed that some of the farther-out areas were excluded and so followed suit. Eret marked where he had sailed in his dragon-trapping exploits, which Astrid stared at hard to commit to memory, already making plans to stop his dragon-trapping efforts after they escaped. Everyone else likewise added a few details to the map of places they had flown but followed Astrid's lead of marking only those areas relatively close to Berk.

Ruffnut noticed that her outlines of some of the areas she had flown to almost look like a dragon. She then drew Drago with his head in the dragon's mouth. Well, _started_ , but while she was adding the finer details, like blood spurting from his neck, a guard whacked her with the shaft of his spear and threatened to impale her with the tip.

The maps were then taken away without a word and things went back to boring again. Everyone was lying around in an attempt to catch some sleep. Eret and Snotlout appeared to be having a contest to see who could snore the loudest.

"Hey, sis," Tuffnut whispered.

"Yeah?" Ruffnut responded.

A couple of guards nearby leaned against the cage to hear whatever was being said. No conversation that took place here would ever be private.

Tuffnut looked over with a mischievous twinkle in his eye. "Your face is ugly."

Ruffnut suppressed a grin as realization dawned on her. _Tuff is using twintuition!_

Twin intuition, or "Twintuition" for short, was a sort of understanding they had among themselves. It was an unspoken harmony, an unnaturally natural silent connection, like the two heads of their Zippleback dragon coordinating to operate the same body despite being two independent minds.

Tuffnut said something about her face, which could see, hear, touch, taste, and smell. So, clearly, Tuffnut observed something he wanted to share with his sister.

"Well your face is even uglier!" she shot right back. There was no doubt that Tuffnut got the message as clear as day. _What did you notice?_

"Oh, whatever," he said. "Just shut up. Your voice doesn't exactly remind me of butterflies."

A nearby guard was scratching his head, but to Ruffnut, the statement was clear as day. Voice… remind… butterflies. Butterflies fly. And what else flies? Dragons, of course! "Remind" is a process of the mind and what does the mind do? It thinks, of course! "Voice" communicates. And dragons communicate with their mind!

Developing the ability to hear dragons required many prolonged sessions of meditating and concentrating to condition the mind. Despite the appearance that Tuffnut always maintained, he was actually really good at that and picked up the knack for hearing dragons in due time. Ruffnut had tried for a while but made little to no progress. Consequently, she had come to accept that she would be deaf to dragons for the time being and resorted to punching her brother whenever she suspected he was conspiring with her head of the two-headed Zippleback they shared. Or when she was frustrated by something. Or just for fun.

Obviously, Tuffnut must have been able to touch one of their dragons while being escorted to their cage. As one of the small handful of dragon whisperers on Berk, he would have been able to hear said dragon talk in their special way of speaking without words.

The guards started to show signs of losing interest in the conversation, assuming the two twins were just bickering. Ruffnut figured that this farce could go on for a bit longer before they started shouting, "Shut up or we'll stab you with our spears!" or some other lame and unimaginative threat like that. Again.

"Well your voice sounds like a Zippleback belching into the rear end of another dragon farting," she said.

Tuffnut caught the inquiry about how their dragon, Barf and Belch, was doing. "Ha! We'd all like to see _that_ happen!" he guffawed.

The message was clear enough. Their dragon was fine. The other dragons were unharmed as well. Ruffnut stretched her arms above her head and yawned to hide her sigh of relief.

"I once fed a bunch of grapes to a Terrible Terror," Tuffnut said. "He couldn't chew them, of course, so he just swallowed the cluster whole. _That_ made him belch _and_ fart at the _same time_ , lemme tell you."

Ruffnut allowed herself to chuckle at the thought of one of those little cat-sized dragons trying to eat something as soft and squishy as grapes. A dragon couldn't really chew on grapes as their jaws weren't designed for that… like someone with no teeth. That could only be in reference to Toothless.

And Toothless was a black dragon, so Tuffnut must have been referring to none other than Drago, who had a black beard. His skin was also somewhat dark, which was a very rare sight so far North, even among the travelers and far-reaching merchants from the deep south - some even farther than Iceland or Ireland - that visited Berk's harbor.

"Oh, really," Ruffnut said in exasperation. "I hope said dragon farted in your face."

"Nope!" Tuffnut declared. "I smelled it, though. Silent but deadly."

Ruffnut paused in thought at the obvious meaning behind the words. Though he called himself "the dragon master", Drago wasn't a dragon whisperer. He couldn't hear dragons! Tuffnut just confirmed that with what he learned from his brief contact with their Zippleback. All their dragons were silently taunting Drago to test the waters when the other captive dragons told them what they had discovered. There was no room for doubt that Drago was deaf to the projected thoughts, even with hand-to-snout contact.

Ruffnut wanted to ask if there was anything else important that Tuffnut picked up through his momentary contact with their dragon. Since dragons could communicate at the speed of thought, they could communicate a lot.

Well, at least as much as Tuffnut's mind could process, so Ruffnut wasn't holding her breath.

"Did the smell kill you?" Ruffnut asked. "I hope it did."

"Na." Tuffut waved it off. "But it made my head spin."

Ruffnut's jaw dropped at the hidden message but she quickly schooled her expression. Drago had a mind-controlling dragon, like the Red Death that was behind the three-century dragon war.

Going on, he said, "Yeah. it gave me a really-"

A big...

"really, "

powerful...

"really, "

tougher than the Red Death…

"big headache that sent chills down my spine."

sea dragon that shoots ice. Cool!

No, Ruffnut realized, not cool. Drago somehow had control over a dragon that was massive, seemingly indomitable, and could control the minds of all other dragons in the area. Humans, with their sense of imagination that comes across as pure chaos to a dragon, naturally scramble such mind control through contact. However, their poor dragons were all locked away, their minds at the mercy of this ice-spitting neo Red Death.

"Guys," Fishlegs muttered from his side of the cage, "do you have to talk about that stuff _now_? I'm trying to sleep."

Tuffnut rolled his eyes. "Whatever, dude."

Fishlegs curled up again to nod off. He clearly did not have a sense of twintuition as he did not catch the obvious message: _you need to hear this!_

* * *

 **AN 2.0:**

Thanks for reading! Again, sorry for the longer-than-planned pause in writing. I had a brain fart, followed by brain constipation, followed by brain- well, let's just say I cleaned up the mess. Oh, speaking of getting back on track, many thanks to my beta reader, Colorful Crayola. She let me bounce some ideas back and forth with her on things I could do with my story.

Edward James Kenway, thanks for dropping a line! I had to Google your username. I've played Assassin's creed 1 and 2, but haven't made it to the later ones yet. I've been too busy turning myself into a human projectile in Mass Effect.

Dragonrider's Fury, I'm guessing those two words are "Baby Bewilderbeasts?" Yeah, I got this whole scene planned out where two baby Bewilderbeast nestmates are fighting for control over a dragon and then Hiccup and Toothless have to come in and break it up. "I don't care who _started_ it. You're both going to _end_ this. Now!"

SidheWorld5, don't worry, I'll be elaborating on The Trial… eventually. Muahahahahahahaaaaaa!

Toothlessgolfer, we've only seen the tip of the iceberg so far when it comes to fancy flying on dragonback. I figured some scenes where it's just Hiccup or Valka showboating for no reason is fun to watch in a movie but make for a boring read. I got some fun ideas coming up, though.


	10. Confronted

**Confronted**

"Toothless, quit being a baby."

The Night Fury huffed in response to his rider's jab.

"Oh, let off, Hiccup," Valka said. "Considering what he's been through, can't blame him."

"It's not _that_ bad."

 _{It_ is _that bad!}_ Toothless insisted.

"You're too distrustful," Hiccup chided.

He took a step away from his dragon, who took a step forward to maintain contact with his rider.

 _{You're too easy to take advantage of.}_

"I am not."

 _{Are too.}_

Hiccup jumped away from his dragon. Toothless leaped forward to tackle Hiccup and lay on top of him.

With mock-indignation, the rider looked up at Cloudjumper, who was perched on the side of a wall of ice. "Please tell me you don't do this to _your_ rider, Cloud." Valka chortled at the sight.

A low rumble seized the attention of the four of them to the giant sea dragon nearby, mostly submerged in the water just below the lip of their ledge. Two large, sea-green eyes, with vertical pupils as tall as Hiccup, stared at the prone rider struggling under his high-strung dragon. Though the mouth and tusks were below the water and the top of the spikes that crowned the head loomed high above, to Hiccup's best guess, Dragon King - which still felt like an odd name for a female dragon - was actually at least twenty paces away.

She was the source of Toothless' unease. Toothless had the misfortune of living most of his life with his mind dominated by the Red Death. Just the very notion of the existence of another creature that could theoretically control him made it a constant struggle against every instinct in his body to remain here instead of plucking up his rider and flying off. The knowledge that contact with a human protected a dragon from the mind control was the only thing that allowed Toothless to remain at all.

Hiccup, though, had learned long ago that one's _ability_ to do harm meant nothing unless one _desired_ to do harm. Dragon King has been nothing but welcoming.

He stretched to at least make himself comfortable under his dragon and wriggled an arm free to wave at Dragon King. "What's she saying?" he asked.

 _{She's quite amused by your antics. That makes one of us.}_

Hiccup looked up from where his head stuck out between his dragon's forelegs and grinned. "You know you love me."

Toothless bared his teeth in a mock snarl. _{In spite of everything, even with your reckless nature, to the bitter end.}_

Hiccup stuck out his tongue. "Drama queen."

Toothless snorted and gave a long lick across Hiccup's face. The rider spluttered. "Mom, Cloud, King, help! He's assaulting me!"

Dragon King shifted ever-so-slightly and Toothless tensed. Hiccup seized the opportunity to wriggle out and stand up.

"C'mon," he chided, "Dragon King is friendly. _Very_ friendly. She even fed you! Besides, if she wanted to harm us, she had plenty of opportunities to do so. She could do so now if she wanted, but she isn't, so there's no need to be so dramatic."

 _{We are not in danger. She cannot harm us if she tried.}_

Hiccup crossed his arms. Well, he _tried_ but his dragon lunged forward to snatch an arm in toothless gums.

"Oh c'mon," he said. "She won't try to ensnare your mind as the Red Death did. Besides, if you wanted to make a mountain out of every anthill, she could flick her head up and ram those submerged tusks right through the ice we're standing on. Oh Helheim, she could cover us in that ice breath thing of hers, but she's not because she's friendly!"

 _{I would pull you out of harm's way and fly us out of here if she tried.}_

Hiccup rolled his eyes. "Not to bait a hook, but do you _really_ think you're that fast and she's that slow?"

Toothless flicked his eyes around to assess his surroundings. He hauled his rider back a couple of steps and gave a satisfied huff.

Hiccup rolled his eyes. "Guess that answers that. I still wanna touch her, though."

 _{Nonsense! I will relay anything she says to you.}_

"You know it's not the same."

 _{Close enough.}_

"Mom!" Hiccup whined. "Toothless is being… Toothless."

Valka chuffed. "I can understand how hard it can be to accept some things. Give it some time. He'll come around. If I can, he can."

Toothless snorted at the challenge. Hiccup quirked an eyebrow at his mother. "Oh boy, did you just throw down the gauntlet?"

"Hmm?"

"Expression from the mainland where they have knights and serfs. Throw your gauntlet or glove on the ground to issue a challenge. Ya know, challenge someone's honor and dignity and whatnot."

Valka grinned as she unwound a simple cloth wrap that secured a fixture of claws to her wrist. It was an addition to make her look more like a dragon to be more easily accepted by those she rescued. She tossed it to the ground.

"Closest thing I have," she said with a grin.

Always one to play with a toy, Toothless leaned down and picked it up, shifting it around delicately between his teeth.

"And now you just accepted the challenge to trust the Dragon King," Hiccup said. Toothless dropped the gauntlet and stared at his rider. "Nope, too late."

 _{Your land-strider rituals are stupid.}_

"Says the dragon whose way of saying, 'let's be friends,' was to regurgitate the tail-end of a fish into my lap."

 _{It made perfect sense.}_

"What kind of sense would that make to your silly, reptilian mind?"

 _{I formally acknowledged your kindness to give me your food by giving back a portion.}_

Hiccup mock-gagged. "It was gross!"

 _{You're gross.}_

"Your face is gross."

"Actually," Valka casually said, "Night Furies are among the cleanest dragons I've seen when it comes to…" she paused in thought for a moment, "hy… higa… don't tell me." She snapped her fingers. "Ah! Hygiene. Yes, Night Furies have better hygiene than most other dragons."

Dragon King shifted ever-so-slightly and Toothless jumped with an alarmed yelp, wings half-spread and ready to shoot straight up. Hiccup was too busy staring at his mother in shock to notice.

"Wait… you've seen other Night Furies?!" His voice rose in pitch and broke on the last word.

Valka nodded. "Well, just the one beside Toothless. Female. Skittish, but not so distrustful of Dragon King as Toothless was. That was years ago. Four. No, five."

Hiccup's face lit up like a forge and he started jumping around, pumping his fist in the air as he cheered. Toothless frantically clamped down on his rider's arm to maintain contact, still deathly afraid of the Dragon King's mind control capabilities.

"What?!" he shouted in excitement. "Really?! Another Night Fury! _And_ a female one at that! Why didn't you tell me sooner? Toothless, there are other Night Furies out there! You're gonna find a mate! And we'll have baby Night Furies crawling all around!"

Through his dragon, Hiccup heard the Dragon King. _{I can tell by the scent that she was part of Toothless' clutch. She flew in a couple of days after the demonic queen fell. She said that she was trapped on a remote island for fear of coming too close to the demonic queen and falling prey to her mind snare, but once that threat was removed, she flew out in search of a mate. She spent a day sleeping here, but she was so full of wanderlust that she naturally flew out the next night.}_

Toothless huffed at that but held his peace.

Hiccup deflated a bit. "Aww, had my hopes up. We had actually flown out there. Found some of Toothless' family, actually."

Valka raised her eyebrows. "Oh, really?"

"Yeah. I, uhhh," he scratched the back of his neck, "I sorta got his father killed by-"

Toothless gave a warning growl. Hiccup rolled his eyes. They did find the remnants of Toothless' family, but when a Skrill attacked, Hiccup inserted himself into the situation to try to calm things down and… things didn't calm down.

"Alright, fine, I'm not to blame," he said. "The Skrill killed Tolerant."

Valka hummed sadly. "That's actually why only one stopped by our nest. Said she was flying with clutchmate, also female. They were attacked by Skrill during a storm along the way. Her clutchmate was paralyzed mid-flight and fell into the ocean and drowned, but the survivor killed Skrill."

Hiccup hung his head. "It's sad that people do that. Humans, dragons, we're all the same. All fall prey to pride and hate."

Valka shrugged. "There's no gain in dwelling on the could-haves of the past. Best thing I've found to do is help those who survive." She leaned against her dragon and stared at the Dragon King. "That's the only way we've found we could be happy."

########

* * *

########

Toothless awoke from a fitful sleep with his head spinning. He yawned, stood on all fours, and stretched himself out. The warm rays of the rising sun wormed their way through the tunnel and into the chamber where he slept.

Looking around, something was amiss. Toothless let out an alarmed yelp as he realized he was missing his… the… something. He had _something_ and it was missing. He craned his neck around to look down the length of his tail. The prosthetic tailfin was still there, so that couldn't have been it.

He felt drawn down a tunnel, not toward the warm sun, but deeper into the heart of the icy mountain. The tunnel split and he took the left path. He was sure that the thing he sought was down that way. Up over a ledge, down another tunnel, around a pit; he did not know where he was going, only that he was progressing closer to the missing thing.

Finally, he broke out into a large cavern. The weak glow of the sun filtered through the icy ceiling above, casting dim shadows underneath the many overhanging ledges around a central pit. From that pit arose the head of the great sea dragon. In front of her were two land-striders standing on the ledge, a male and a female.

Toothless warbled happily as he rushed forward, tongue lolling out to the side. He brushed past the land-striders, spread his wings wide, and flattened himself to the ground with his head hanging over the edge.

The great sea dragon gave a light rumble in acknowledgment. _{IT IS ABOUT TIME YOU FOUND ME.}_

Toothless whimpered. _{I am sorry, my alpha. I was distracted.}_ He shook his head, unsure of what he had been doing before he arrived here. _{I am here now, though. What can this little worm do for you?}_

The alpha shifted her head closer. _{I AM HUNGRY. FEED ME.}_

Toothless looked around for tribute to his alpha. He was quite hungry himself, so there was nothing to cough up for her. Looking around, he saw only stone and ice.

His eyes fell on the land-striders next to him. The male took an uncertain step backward. Toothless took a step forward.

The land-strider turned and fled. He didn't make it far at all.

Toothless trotted back to the edge with his tribute clutched between his teeth and the alpha gave an approving rumble. The tribute held between his rows of teeth mewled and whimpered. Toothless bit down harder to silence it.

He took a moment to consider how he would deliver his tribute to his alpha. He could fly overhead… No, no, that wasn't possible; his tail had a fin torn off because… something happened to it. Sure, he had some sort of prosthetic replacement but that wasn't working for some reason. Then again, he could just fling the tribute into the waiting maw.

He turned his head to the side to prepare to do just that. For some unknown reason, there was a niggling doubt in the back of his mind. However, the alpha could not be denied what she wanted. Toothless closed his eyes for a moment.

WHACK!

Something hard struck the top of his snout. He gasped and dropped his tribute and frantically looked around as he pawed at his stinging snout, his breath shallow and fast, his heart a woodpecker in his chest. He saw the female land-strider standing off to the side with that stick she always carried around, shaking out her wrist. He looked around in confusion. The familiar walls of their sleeping chamber surrounded him, not the large cavern in which dwelt the alpha- the great sea dragon. A wingspan away, prone on the ground, lay the male land-strider, nursing a hurt arm.

Toothless felt an icy chill flash through his core as everything clicked into place. It was all a dream. Just a stupid dream. Dragons have always been literal creatures with no ability for that amazing imagination that was innate in land-striders. Along with that lack of imagination, dragons never dreamed. Sleep has always been just a blink. However, having had such a close bond with a land-strider, some of that imagination seeped in.

 _No_ , Toothless told himself, _not just a land-strider_. _Mine! My rider! My little Firefly! My light in the darkness. My brilliant beacon guiding the way out of any pit._

Toothless lunged at his precious Firefly to curl up protectively around him, desperately crooning and warbling. That was when he smelled blood. Firefly was hurt. Toothless probed with his tongue and found a couple of trickles on Firefly's arm.

Firefly tried to twist away from his dragon. _{It's alright, Toothless. It's not that bad. I'll be fine.}_

Toothless gave a yelp and wrapped his toothless gums around the rider's arm, trying to clean and massage it with his tongue. Firefly squeaked out and grasped his shoulder with his other hand. He was in pain. He was hurt.

Red filled the dragon's vision. Someone hurt Firefly and that someone would pay dearly. But then again, _he_ was that someone and Firefly always hated seeing his dragon suffer.

Toothless froze. _{I did this.}_

Firefly sighed. _{It's alright. I'm fine.}_

 _{I thrashed around and kicked you, didn't I?}_

 _{You had a bad dream.}_

Toothless flicked his eyes over to the smooth stone on which he and Firefly had initially laid down to sleep, a couple of wingspans away. It was painfully obvious exactly what happened. Toothless was curled around his rider while sleeping, as usual. The dream made him thrash about. An idle fling of his leg dug some claws into Firefly's arm and the pads of his paws shoved him hard to the side.

The result left Firefly with some minor cuts, a bruised arm, and a sore shoulder. Toothless had killed those who had given lesser injuries to his Firefly. Well, he _would_ have killed such creatures but Firefly always inserted himself between Toothless and the offender to resolve things peacefully. Still, it tore at his heart to think that his grudge with the great sea dragon caused his precious rider to come to harm.

Suddenly, he knew what he had to do. He jumped to all fours and turned to the tunnel that led towards the heart of the nest. His body froze suddenly and his eyes flicked over past Dragon Savior to lock onto Firefly, who nodded in approval.

Toothless shot out of the room and down the tunnel, not towards the rising sun but towards the sea dragon. He tore across stone and ice, over and under dragons in his way. It was all identical to the dream: left, up, down, around the pit.

Finally, he broke out into a large cavern. The weak glow of the sun filtered through the icy ceiling above, casting dim shadows underneath the many overhanging ledges around a central pit. From that pit arose the head of the great sea dragon.

The black dragon paced back and forth, tail lashing in agitation. _{You can control me if you want to.}_

It wasn't a question but a statement they both knew to be fact. Still, the great sea dragon responded.

 _{YES.}_

Toothless suddenly felt isolated and foolish. His mind was at this dragon's mercy. He put himself in this situation but it felt like the right thing to do at the time. It was the Firefly way of facing a threat; stick his neck out, close his eyes, and hope it all works for the best.

The weight of the sea dragon's mind weighed down on Toothless. He could feel the pressure from her passive hum. She wasn't attempting to exert any control over him but the threat was still there.

It reminded him of a story his rider once told of a certain land-strider who was the alpha of his nest. Every night, he would eat his food while sitting in a certain spot. Above him would hang a large and sharp shiny claw, delicately suspended by a single hair. Anybody who wanted him dead could sever that single hair, bringing the large shiny claw down to end the alpha's life. If that land-strider was to live to see the next day, it wouldn't be by overcoming his enemies but by having no enemies.

The sea dragon let out a frosty puff of air but otherwise remained motionless as she studied Toothless. The shiny claw above quivered as a gust of wind rippled the single hair that held it aloft.

Toothless suddenly halted his pacing and turned to face the sea dragon. _{You could seize my mind as your own. You could make me love you. You could turn me into your unflinchingly loyal thrall.}_ A shiver flashed down his spine. _{You could make me kill my Firefly if it pleased you.}_

 _{YES.}_

 _{Did you see my dream?}_

 _{YES.}_

 _{But you do nothing to me. You allow me to live in constant fear because you have power over me.}_

 _{YES.}_

 _{Why?!}_

 _{I DO NOT FORCE YOU TO STAY HERE.}_

Toothless growled in frustration. He remained for Firefly's sake, not his own.

 _{How can you decide to hold back the control you could exert? You deny the laws of nature. The strong dominate the weak. To yield control over others is to deny that you are a dragon!}_

Those large, blue eyes bore unflinchingly into Toothless'.

 _{YES.}_

This was driving Toothless mad! The very notion of what he was seeing with his own eyes simply couldn't be!

Sure, land-striders could exercise such restraint, but they were different. They had imagination and culture and chaotic minds. They could store their emotions, accumulate them inside like a bladder, swallow their feelings down and dump them out later when nobody else was around. Dragons were not like land-striders. They were simpler creatures who acted in the moment. Such restraint was not natural to a dragon.

Toothless roared and let out a tiny puff of fire that spattered harmlessly against the spiked forehead of the sea dragon, trying to draw out some sort of reaction. Absolutely no response. He felt intensely desperate to provoke the great sea dragon in some way, to break the maddening silence, to disprove this living example that broke his view on life.

The shiny claw quivered above, potent, deadly, and maddeningly motionless. Angry at himself for running out here like a fool, angry at the sea dragon for being a mystery, angry at the frailty of his mind that another could so effortlessly seize it, he looked around for something on which he could take out his rage. A dragon lay nearby, watching the scene with confusion and a faint trace of amusement. The poor thing had a leg severed halfway down. Toothless leaped, teeth bared, claws outstretched. He was dead set on tearing that thing limb from-

Suddenly, he thought better of it. Why harm a dragon who had done no evil to him? One might see it as an act of mercy to end the limited life of a dragon injured like that, but who was he to make that call, especially since what he intended to do could never be reverted should he realize afterward it was a mistake.

A hard thrust of his wings slammed him into the ground short of his target.

Toothless stood there, his whole body shaking and quivering from restrained rage, staring at the great sea dragon. There was no room for doubt. He didn't change his mind. The sea dragon did. It was both calming and nerve-wracking, empowering and degrading, to have experienced that. She effortlessly pressed on his mind to obey her will and he was absolutely powerless to resist.

It was a subtle, light touch though, like when Firefly would fasten the saddle snug enough to stay put, but his handling would be very gentle, almost reverent. The great sea dragon had used the minimal amount of delicate force and completely released him almost immediately.

For the longest while, there was only stillness and silence. Then, with fluid grace, she rose up on her hind legs. The claws on her massive forelegs gouged the icy ledge in front of Toothless to lift herself up higher and higher. Uncertain of the situation, Toothless could only stand there in dumb silence, waiting for the hair to snap and the shiny claw to fall and impale him.

That never happened. The pressure on his mind never increased. His thoughts were still his own. The great sea dragon came to rest standing on her hind legs with her belly at Toothless' level and her head far above.

 _{THERE WAS A TIME WHEN I RELISHED CONTROL OVER OTHERS. IT IS THE NATURAL INSTINCT TO CONTROL ALL DRAGONS AROUND ME. YOU WOULD KNOW, I WOULD ASSUME. I KNOW SOME ABOUT YOUR KIND. THOUGH YOU WERE CONTROLLED BY THE DEMONIC QUEEN, WHAT FREE WILL YOU HAD WAS BENT TOWARD MAINTAINING YOUR BETA STATUS ABOVE ALL OTHER DRAGONS IN THE NEST._

Toothless swallowed.

 _{Yes.}_

He suddenly noticed scarring on her belly. Rippled hide underneath scales that never grew in quite right betrayed the telltale signs of a large scorch mark that never fully healed. Such a sight was so surprising that it left him staring in bewilderment.

 _{YOU HAVE GROUNDED THE DEMONIC QUEEN, BUT YOU WERE NOT THE FIRST TO TRY. LOOKING BACK, I WAS LUCKY TO HAVE SURVIVED. THE ICY WATER IS WHERE I BELONG BUT I ATTACKED A DRAGON WHOSE NEST WAS A FIERY VOLCANO.}_

Toothless caught only flashes of imagery from the great sea dragon, but it was enough to tell the story. Long ago, she had attacked the demonic queen that had enthralled so many dragons. She didn't want to free the dragons. No, she wanted to be their new alpha and to add them to her own nest.

However, she had to climb up onto the shores of the volcanic island to attack. Fire overwhelmed ice. The great sea dragon was a fish out of water and could only count herself lucky to have been able to retreat with her life.

For some reason, knowing that this dragon was far less noble in the past was a comfort. It was something Toothless could relate to.

The sea dragon backed up to drop down to all fours with her head once again level with Toothless.

 _{YOU ARE NO LONGER SHAKING. YOU USED TO BELIEVE THE ONLY WAY TO CALM DOWN FROM A RAGE WAS TO TEAR SOMETHING UP, EVEN IF IT WAS JUST A TREE. IMAGINE THE DAMAGE I COULD CAUSE IN MY OWN NEST BACK WHEN I WAS AS UNDISCIPLINED AS YOU. DRAGON SAVIOR IS APTLY NAMED.}_

Toothless ducked his head. He felt completely drained.

 _{Yes.}_

 _{I DID NOT HAVE A LAND-STRIDER BACK THEN TO SHOW ME THE WAY. THEY HAVE NO REGARD FOR THE LAWS OF NATURE. DRAGON SAVIOR DROVE ME CRAZY WITH HER UNNATURAL COMPASSIONS, MUCH LIKE FIREFLY AND YOU. LAND-STRIDERS ARE FASCINATING CREATURES, ARE THEY NOT?}_

She took one last look at him before lumbering around to dive back into the water below. Toothless could only stand there and gaze down where the tail disappeared beneath the water.

 _{Yes.}_

########

* * *

########

Hiccup finally caught up to Toothless. The poor thing was stooped over in sullen silence, stewing over whatever had just transpired. He looked like a kicked puppy. Hiccup ran up and wrapped his arms around his dragon's neck and rubbed his cheek on Toothless' cheek.

"Shhhh, it's alright," he said in a soothing voice. "Shhh shhh. Everything is alright. I'm alright. You're alright."

Toothless slowly let the memory of what just transpired flow to his rider. Hiccup just absorbed it all as he stared at the ripples in the water where Dragon King had disappeared.

"Exciting time, that was," Valka chimed in, having caught glimpses of the memory. "Early days. King always on edge. Almost kill me sometimes. Watch me always, I could tell. See that giving to dragons make me happy. See that helping them make them like me. See that better to oversee with love than control with force. Control over others builds up pride but withers the mind. She started imitating. Went from brooding and grumpy to patient and kind. Sullen to happy. King is good dragon. I like her."

"Wow," Hiccup breathed out, "that's gotta be just the tip of the iceberg. Now I _really_ gotta touch her and get to know her better."

Valka started walking back to the "bedroom" as Hiccup called the stone chamber. "Later. Give her space for now. Toothless upset her. Make her dwell on old times. Much growth, but much pain. Much regret. Much loss."

Hiccup's shoulders slumped as he padded after her. "Alright." He stopped short and leaned against his dragon. "I think you owe her an apology," he said to Toothless.

The black dragon nuzzled Valka's hand. _{I'm sorry I startled you by running out here.}_

Hiccup crossed his arms. "Not who I had in mind. I know she can hear you," he said testily.

Toothless huffed. _{Alright, I'm sorry, great sea dragon, that I upset you.}_

"That's a good _start_..."

 _{And I'm sorry that I cannot trust you as easily as the others. I accept that you probably won't make me feed my rider to you.}_

Hiccup snorted. "And…?"

Suddenly, Toothless pricked up. He dove under his rider and started trotting down a tunnel that led outside.

 _{And she said there is a half-eaten whale floating on the waters for us!}_

* * *

 **A/N:**  
Thanks for reading! Also, thank you Colorful Crayola for being my beta buddy. Now get back to cranking out chapters for Sparrow. Mush!

L'assassin orange, thanks for dropping a line. Yeah, last chapter with the twintuition dialog was one of my favorites to write.


	11. Found

**Found**

Stoick the Vast, chief of the Hairy Hooligan tribe, flew along in a silence that was his namesake. The biting wind felt like daggers stabbing at his hands and exposed upper arm. His heavy fur coat and cloak kept his torso and shoulders warm, and the wool-lined spike-studded bracers on his forearms provided some protection, but this was a far cry from proper flying gear in the freezing arctic winds.

Looking to his side, he could see that his companion was even less adequately dressed and was shivering in the cold. A while ago, they had stopped to kill a polar bear, and before feeding, the dragons allowed Stoick and Gobber to field dress it. Gobber had wrapped himself in the hairy hide - with the hair on the inside because the raw, untreated underside was uncured and disgusting - and secured it with some rope, but the uncured pelt was only a temporary solution at best.

"Gobber," Stoick shouted over the wind, "it would be a shame to die to the cold for nothing. You really should go back. Skull and I will be fine."

Gobber snorted, which turned into chattering teeth. "D-Don't be s-silly!" he shouted back. "We're c-c-close. Right, Skullcrusher?"

The dragon on which Stoick rode locked his wings closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. He gave a rumble and started flapping again with renewed vigor.

"Atta boy!" Stoick shouted as he jovially slapped the thick carapace plates on the back of his dragon's neck.

His eyes drifted past his dragon to the icy floes below. Most of the sea was completely frozen over, but something caught his attention. There was a peculiar pocket of irregularities in the ice. Stoick leaned forward and his dragon descended for a better look.

On closer inspection, he could see broken ice where it was thin, cracks radiating out from a central point. Looking around, there were a few signs that something had impacted the ice. Surrounding each of these were several deep grooves that must have been gouged by claws.

Gobber snorted. "I wonder what happened here? Dragons jus' fall from the sky an' fly off again?"

Something black caught Stoick's attention. It was floating on the water between the ice floes. He guided his dragon to swoop down over it, hooked a foot through a large iron ring on his saddle, and leaned over and down to snatch the object. Pulling himself back up, he looked at his catch. It was a helmet. It was a black, leather helmet covered in Night Fury scales.

It was Hiccup's helmet.

Skullcrusher snorted and craned his head around, and Stoick thrust the helmet forward so his dragon could get a good sniff. Gobber just stared at the thing in gloomy silence. Nothing needed to be said. Both of them knew what was going to happen. They would track down Hiccup, rescue him if he wasn't dead already, and personally find and kill every living creature that ever dared to threaten or harm him.

Up ahead, a strange-looking iceberg loomed. It was unusually tall and had large, icy spikes jutting out from the sheer walls. Their dragons alighted on a ledge that led into a tunnel large enough to accommodate a dragon of any size. Every surface of the tunnel was covered in claw marks and scorches that gave Stoick an uneasy feeling.

Stoick whispered, "Skullcrusher, Grump, keep quiet. Don't reach out to any other dragons nearby with your mind or whatever it is you normally do. We want to remain undetected by anyone."

Both dragons gave a light grunt to confirm they understood. Stoick quietly unsheathed his sword and grabbed his large shield. Gobber quickly twisted and pulled the blunted hook from an ingenious socket he had attached to the stump of his maimed arm. In its place, he inserted the shortened handle of a double-bitted battle ax that he grabbed from his dragon's saddlebags. His good hand grabbed his shield and he followed close behind Stoick, keeping a sharp eye behind them.

The four silently crept along the tunnel with Skullcrusher in the lead with his nose to the ground, followed by Stoick, then Gobber and Grump. Light filtering down through veins of ice in the ceiling helped in navigating the uneven terrain, but Stoick was cognizant of how visible they were. To his relief, Skullcrusher headed them down a smaller tunnel that seemed to be less traveled as he sniffed out Hiccup.

They made good progress and avoided detection until they rounded a tight corner in the tunnel. Stoick heard something bump into Skullcrusher and fall to the ground with a squeak of surprise. He raised his shield and pressed the flat of his sword against its edge, ready for any fight.

From below Skullcrusher's snout, a feminine voice said, "Who are- How did-" She suddenly stopped.

Stoick recognized that voice. His senses battled against old memories of past losses. He couldn't believe it, literally, so he took a step forward and leaned over to peer past his dragon's head. Darkness greeted his eyes.

"Skull, light, please," he whispered.

The dragon opened his mouth and a small fire burned within to cast a dull orange glow. It was a trick Stoick never knew his dragon could do until a year ago when Skullcrusher took the initiative to help his stumbling rider in a dark cave.

Sure enough, Stoick's eyes confirmed what his ears heard. Rushing to her feet was the slender form of Valka. His wife.

His dead wife.

The shock made him drop his sword. His shield ended up flopping like a fish as it hung on his limp wrist. Valka dropped the bone staff she was holding. Stoick opened his mouth to say something but nothing came out.

A dragon rushed up and clawed to a halt just behind her. It had bronze scales, wide horns that jutted out to the sides of the head, and a large, boney crown that fanned out from the back of its owl-like head. Stoick recognized this dragon. It had almost killed his son. It was the one that attacked him and plucked his wife away to take her to an unknown fate at the dragon nest, or now that he understood better, the Red Death.

It wasn't until Valka used her staff to knock Stoick's sword aside that he realized he had picked it up and started to rush the dragon. There was no way her slender form could have stopped him, but the gesture was enough to give him pause.

"Peace!" she shouted. "Calm! Peace!"

She urgently hissed and gestured at the dragon behind her and it backed away and around the corner, out of sight.

Stoick could only stand there and stare with his mouth agape. His dead wife lowered the staff and stood there with a sullen and guilty look on her face. What was this, a taunt from the gods? A draugr? A mockery of what he lost half a lifetime ago?

"I know what you're gonna say, Stoick," she said in a tense voice. "How could I have done this?"

Still, Stoick couldn't find his tongue. Valka was tense, scared, rattling off what seemed to be a well-rehearsed entreaty.

Valka continued, "Stayed away for all of these years and why didn't I come back to you? To our-" she shuddered. "son." Even in the dim light, Stoick could clearly see guilt in those wide eyes, but also a steely resolve.

Down the tunnel and around the corner, Stoick recognized his son's voice shouting, "Mom! Dad is close. Toothless says he sensed- Oof! Uhh, hi there, Cloud."

In the gloom, the black dragon on which he rode was almost invisible but Stoick recognized those green eyes that caught every stray speck of light. Hiccup hastily slid down to the ground.

"Uhh, hi Dad?" he squeaked out.

He walked up to stand next to… well, his mother, apparently.

Stoick could only stare at the sight of his boy in black leather and a weave of shed Night Fury scales, standing next to a woman adorned with shed carapace plates from various dragons. What was clear to see when Hiccup was an infant was so much more plain to see at that moment. The boy had her eyes for sure, and her chin, and her hair.

Hiccup eyed his lost helmet that Stoick had secured to his waist. He started to reach for it but stopped himself.

"Listen," he said with trepidation, "I can explain. I couldn't just sit… around…"

He faltered at the lack of acknowledgment from his father. Stoick could see only his dead wife brought back to life. This woman standing before him was carried off to the nest by the dragon calmly standing behind her. How? For the past three years, Hiccup and a few other riders on Berk have been able to communicate with dragons. Through Hiccup, Stoick heard the dragons tell him about their past lives. Any villager plucked up by a dragon was dropped into the waiting maw of the Red Death. If they were lucky, they died before that happened.

Hookfang, the Monstrous Nightmare that Stoick's nephew rode, fessed up to carrying off certain villagers who were lost to raids. The dragon was under the mind control of the Red Death, of course, but the poor thing was determined to make amends. The apparently flawless memory of the dragon, along with a strong nose, allowed him to figure out who was the surviving kin of his victims he had dropped into the Red Death's maw.

He spent weeks upon weeks hunting and diving for fish, bringing back every scrap of meat he could get his claws on as a tribute. The Ingermans, Iridottirs, and Bollissons were hopelessly overwhelmed with tributes of fish, bear, elk, and boar. That was before anyone on Berk could hear dragons speak, but it was enough to communicate with those whose father or husband was carried off to the nest. They had to ask around for help in dressing and processing all the animals that dragon dropped at their doorsteps. Their neighbors were paid handsomely with a portion of the goods, of course.

If it wasn't uncommon for a Viking to be snatched up in a raid and fed to the Red Death, how was Valka standing there? How was the dragon that took her away protectively wrapping a tail around her?

Stoick blinked. How did that sly devil creep up to do that without him noticing?

"I… I…" Valka trailed off.

Stoick could practically see the platitudes and justifications spilling out all over the ground. Already, pieces started to fall into place. His wife was carried off by a dragon, but she was not harmed. For some unknown reason, the dragon took her somewhere other than the Red Death's nest. She obviously formed a bond with this dragon. Given the look on her face and the words she was clearly trying to force out, she must have had ample opportunities to return home.

Still, all Stoick could do was stare in dumb silence like a fish out of water. Hiccup drifted backward to give them some space, anxiety and trepidation plain to see on his face.

"I… I…" Valka sucked in a deep breath. A single tear streaked down her cheek. "What sign did I have that you could change, Stoick? That _anyone_ could?" The floodgates opened up and she started to pour out her heart. "I pleaded _so many times_ to stop the mindless fighting, to find a better answer, but did any of you listen? No! You wanted your _glory_!" She pointed a shaky finger at him. "You wanted your war! You wanted _blood_ and _that's_ what you _got_!"

Gobber muttered, "This is why I never married. This, and one other reason."

Stoick tried to speak. He tried to ask her what was going on. He tried to demand to know how Valka survived. He tried to confront the dragon that robbed him of his wife. Nothing came out.

"No, you never listen," she said. She sucked in a deep breath to control her quivering. "You wouldn't hear it. When your own _son_ tried to show you a better way, you almost got the whole tribe killed before-" she faltered, took in a deep breath, swiped at the tears, and closed her eyes. "I know that I left you to raise Hiccup alone, but I thought he'd be better off without me. And I was wrong. I see that now, but…"

She drifted off again, unsure of what else to say. Stoick took a step forward and stared deep into her eyes.

"Oh, stop being so stoic, Stoick," she said, her face betraying her true feelings, that she desperately craved some sort of resolution no matter what it was.

Stoick slowly and carefully raised his large hand, drawing it closer to her face. The weight of a sudden realization crashed down on him. He stared at the many scars on his hand, the thick calluses, the wrinkles around the joints. After all these years, Valka didn't seem to have aged at all. Those wide, green eyes, set in a face almost completely devoid of any wrinkles, poured out a torrent of pain and indignation in equal measure.

"Go on," she pleaded. "Shout! Scream! Say _something_!"

Stoick gently touched his fingertips to her cheek and she shuddered. He knew he had to say something. Anything! He finally found his tongue and whispered the first words that came to mind.

"You're as beautiful as the day I lost you."

Suddenly, everything collapsed. All the tension released as Valka silently cried as she melted into Stoick. He could tell she was deeply conflicted. She wasn't immediately cast away but that was not a statement to confirm some sort of resolution to this situation.

The situation was so strange that Stoick didn't know what to do, but he had to do _something_. Gently, he placed a hand under her chin and lifted it up to make her look at him and leaned his head in a little. She leaned back into him and they embraced in a kiss.

As they pulled apart, Hiccup's sarcastic voice caught their attention. "Ha, ha, very funny, Toothless." He was batting at his dragon's wing and pushing past. "Toothless recently saw Helga cover her children's eyes when I kissed Astrid and now he thinks he needs to do likewise for me."

Hiccup looked at his father and mother with a big smile on his face. "So, Dad, Mom, what do you think?"

"I can't believe it," was all Stoick could say. He looked down at his son and frowned. Focusing on something he understood quite well helped him deal with this strange situation. "But you still disobeyed me. Again."

"But Dad," Hiccup whined, "I found Mom."

"That doesn't justify disobedience," Valka said.

"And it's clear she was not lost but hiding." Stoick softly said, casting a sideways look at his… long-lost wife. She couldn't meet his gaze.

Questions whirled around as this was an unprecedented situation. Could she still be his wife? No, she was declared dead and Stoick a widower. The law and the gods recognized her departure. Then again, were the gods so easily fooled? Would the marriage still be valid in their eyes even if not the villagers? Did she love him? Did he love her? He couldn't tell on all accounts and suddenly regretted going straight to kissing her.

"How would you normally punish him for disobedience?" Valka asked, obviously sidestepping the dilemma they both shared.

"Do you regret being found?" Stoick asked more easily than he anticipated he could.

"Wh-what? No! Of course not! But Hiccup needs to learn discipline. How would you normally handle this?"

Stoick blinked and forced his mind to focus on the here and now. Valka was taking on the role of a parent, trying to slide in as Hiccup's mother as if she was only gone for a trading run and wanted to catch up on recent developments she missed.

Stoick shrugged. "Tell him what he did wrong and ground him for a few days."

"That it?"

"A week?"

"And before Toothless?"

"Stick him inside and tell him to stay put whenever a new invention of his wrecks something. Make him help clean things up."

Valka snorted. "I can see that worked brilliantly," she said sarcastically. "That it? No actual discipline?"

"I can't spank him or something like that. I'd break him!"

"Not hard! Works on dogs, dragons, and humans alike. You discipline the mind that thinks but not the heart that feels. Hiccup feels but does not think."

Hiccup said, "You know I'm standing right here?"

"Well, what would you do, say, when Hiccup flies off when I tell him to stay put?" Stoick shot back.

"I told her about it and she hit me with her staff," Hiccup whined. "I got a bruise on my arm and Toothless allowed it!"

"He's a _child_!" Valka hissed. "You're too lax with him. He won't mature until you make him. If I saw that in a day, you should have seen it in the past twenty years!"

Stoick threw his arms out in exasperation. "Look, I'm not the best father in the world! I get it! I wasn't supposed to be doing this alone! What was I supposed to do, watch over him day and night? I had a tribe to run! Disputes to settle, fallen warriors to send off, food stores to manage, houses to rebuild…"

He stopped because he noticed that Valka was crying. He wrapped an arm around her and said, "Sorry, that was a bit callous of me."

"My fault," Valka softly said. "Could have come back. Didn't. Scared."

"It's alright," Stoick said. He didn't know why he said that. Twenty years was a long time, and how much longer would it have been if Hiccup didn't stumble across her hidden home?

"No! Not alright!" she insisted.

"No," Stoick agreed. He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Now he knew why he was willing to comfort her about this. She knew well enough to recognize wrongdoing when she saw it. "That dragon took more than just my wife from me."

It was true. When he lost his dear Val, he simply broke down. He lost his confidence as a father who could protect his family. Everyone around him still saw the stern-but-fair chieftain but he was dead on the inside. He was woefully unequipped to properly raise his son with discipline because what worked on Stoick when he was a child clearly didn't work on Hiccup.

"So I've heard," Valka said. It was obvious by the flicker of her eyes and the twitch of her lip that she wanted to say more but thought better of it. Finally, after a lengthy silence, she said, "And if I came back right away, maybe a year later, knowing dragons were people who just fell in a bad way?"

Stoick deflated. Nobody present had any doubt what would happen if Valka returned to Berk during the dragon war. The chief disowned his son when he tried to pet a Monstrous Nightmare, and then proceeded to almost get every able-bodied warrior roasted by a mountain of a dragon. What greater stunt would Valka have been driven to perform to plead on the behalf of the dragons? What greater madness would Stoick have been driven to? Would the Red Death still be alive and the dragons still raiding to this day? Most likely.

For Valka to stay away from Berk was objectively the best decision and it pierced Stoick's heart to recognize that. She was driven away by what would certainly happen if she came back. Hiccup's lack of discipline and habit of disobedience was solely his father's fault.

Stoick closed his eyes. He couldn't bear to see the hurt on her face as she must have followed the same line of thought. She suffered as much as him, perhaps even more, having no human friends. Dragons were fine and all, but they couldn't pour a drink for a woeful heart.

He paused in thought. It felt wrong to just declare that they were husband and wife again. Regardless of whether the law allowed such, his heart wasn't so sure. Then again, he couldn't ignore that hopeful look in Hiccup's eyes. He wanted to acknowledge the possibility, but he didn't want to raise anyone's hopes unduly.

Finally, he said, "If one loses his favorite ax, he learns to live without it."

"He would get himself another," Valka immediately retorted, eyes downcast.

"There is no other."

She locked eyes with him. "If he found his ax sometime later, would his son benefit from taking it home?"

Stoick twitched his lips into a faint smile. "Our son would benefit, yes."

########

* * *

########

Eret was awoken from sleep by the screeching sound of his cell door grinding open and someone shouting, "Get up! Move it!"

Rough hands pulled him and the riders out one by one and bound their wrists behind their backs. Once bound, the prodding of spear tips marched them out of the holds and up onto the deck.

Above deck, it was clear that they were moving at an unnaturally rapid rate. Drago's flagship that was serving as their prison was speeding along faster than any wind could carry them, not that the ship had any sails in the first place. In front of the ship, the back of the massive bewilderbeast led the way, breaking up the sea of ice as it moved and towing the ship by massive chains.

At the bow of the ship was Drago discussing something with a group of what must have been captains and other leaders in his war effort. The large man spared a moment to sneer at the prisoners before ignoring them as if they weren't even worth his attention.

"What gives?" Ruffnut asked as the cold wind bit at them. "I was having the most pleasant dream where I was-"

A guard leaned over and whacked the butt-end of his spear into her stomach, sending her collapsing to the deck.

"Move!" another guard shouted as he grabbed her braids and hauled her up to her feet.

Tuffnut looked like he was about to say something but Eret fervently shook his head. That and the tip of a spear pressed against his back convinced him to hold his peace.

Astrid leaned over and whispered, "Where are they taking us this time?"

The guards were marching them along the edge of the ship toward the stern, around boxes, barrels, and dragon cages. Eret gulped as he realized what was going on.

"They're going to kill us," he whispered back. "Walk the plank. No bodies to dispose of, no muss, no fuss."

"They can't do that! We gave Drago what he wanted!" Fishlegs whimpered.

Eret shrugged. "That's Drago for ya, but he should still need us to help with the search for this Bewilderbeast. We made sure he saw value in keeping us alive. I wonder what has changed?"

One of the guards said, "Let's just say our beastie sniffed out your beastie. We're gonna go and kill it. And then we'll take back all the dragons you lost to incompetence. Too bad you won't live to see it."

"Quiet!" another guard snapped at him. "No talking to the shark bait."

Eret idly eyed the dozen steel dome traps that lined the way in a grid. They were a wonderful invention that could hold two dragons of any size up to Monstrous Nightmares. The trap would be left out somewhere with one dragon shackled down and the hemisphere lids opened to the sky. Any dragon passing by would be lured in by the shackled dragon in distress and would enter the dome to investigate, then a trigger would slam the top shut, trapping both inside.

In past years, Eret had considered commissioning such traps to be made for his own dragon trapping business. However, such a device took all the fun out of trapping. He preferred to rely on his strength, wits, and bolas. Well, that and he couldn't afford something made from so much steel… And he couldn't hire all the men it would take to haul such a heavy thing around… And he would need larger ships… Yeah, definitely a solution for milk-drinkers.

All the traps were closed up for now. From inside one of them, the angry roar of a Monstrous Nightmare rattled the steel dome. It banged against the walls but it was to no avail; those traps were secured quite well to the deck.

Another trap they passed by emitted the trilling of a Deadly Nadder. Astrid stared at the trap and whispered under her breath, "Save your strength for a good opportunity and then leave nothing but cinders, girl. Do me proud."

It wasn't until Eret noticed the calls of a Zippleback and a Gronckle, as well as the sullen reaction from the riders, why they were taken this way to walk the plank. Usually, Vikings loved to kill their enemies in a much more showier and bloodier execution. However, before the riders died, Drago wanted them to see that their dragons were trapped and helpless. He wanted them to know that their deaths have accomplished absolutely nothing and would be recognized by nobody. Even the fact that Drago wasn't there to watch them die was a slap in the face, a clear message that even their deaths weren't worth a moment of his time.

It was working, too. Fishlegs was silently weeping, Snotlout and the twins were staring at their feet in utter dejection, and even Astrid looked like a kicked puppy. That wouldn't do, though. Eret wouldn't go down without a fight. He needed the other riders to provide a distraction but he couldn't exactly share any sort of plan with them without the guards catching on.

That, and time was almost up. Not too far ahead, a simple gangplank extended from the starboard side of the ship.

"This isn't happening," Fishlegs muttered.

"You're looking pretty calm for one who is about to die," Eret casually said to Ruffnut.

She glared at him but said nothing. Eret glared right back. When he had a moment that the guards weren't looking at his face, he winked at her. He knew Astrid was plenty sharp to instantly respond to an escape opportunity. Snotlout was too dim and Fishlegs too timid to be relied upon. The twins, though, seemed to have an intuitive understanding of each other to instantly work in unison without any noticeable communication, so hinting at Ruffnut that he had a plan would inherently do likewise for Tuffnut.

"You're one to talk!" Ruffnut shouted at him. "You led us here!"

"Astrid made me!" Eret shouted right back.

"This can't be happening," Fishlegs said. Tuffnut kicked his shin and he yowled in pain.

"We're here," one of the guards said. He gestured to the plank. "You will start walking now or my spear will make you."

"Could this day get any worse?" Snotlout muttered.

"Uh, let me see," Tuffnut said. "We're about to jump into freezing cold water and then die from drowning."

Eret peered over the edge at the foamy water below. "Looks refreshing. You'll probably get eaten by one of Drago's Sharkworms, though."

"Shut up!" Snotlout shouted. A guard raised a spear to hit him but a second guard placed a hand on his shoulder. They both grinned and stood back to enjoy the drama.

Eret made a face of disgust at Ruffnut and said, "How about _you_ walk first? You smell the worst and could use a bath."

"That's it!" she shouted, stepping up nose-to-nose. "I _used_ to love you but you've gone _too far_ , mister! Don't you be dissing my protective layer of grime. Disease can't touch me."

"This isn't happening," Fishlegs moaned. Tuffnut kicked him again.

"Then how about the fat one?" Eret casually suggested, gesturing to Fishlegs.

"Hey!" Astrid snapped. "Maybe you should try being polite sometime before you die."

"That's enough!" one of the guards shouted, advancing with a spear.

"You're right," Eret said, stepping onto the base of the plank. "Where I come from, we have manners and chivalry. You wouldn't understand. Please," he gestured to Astrid, "ladies first."

Astrid glared at him. "You are a steaming pile of-"

Tuffnut pulled his leg back to kick Fishlegs again. Fishlegs shuffled back but Ruffnut lunged forward to stomp on his foot, causing him to shout and go into a rage. He turned around and rammed his forehead into the nearest guard's face. The other guards made the error of turning to see what was happening.

"Duck!" Eret shouted as he flashed a wink.

Astrid instantly complied. Eret whirled around and high-kicked the guard behind her, catching the side of his face with his foot. The guard's halberd jumped out of his grasp and arced over Astrid's head. Eret managed to catch the handle with his fingers and maneuvered the blade to cut his bindings. He cried out in pain as his sloppy handling took some flesh out along with the ropes, but his hands were free.

The closest guard could only stare in shock at what he saw. Eret wasted no time in stabbing his foot with the halberd and grabbed his weapon as he hopped about. With a weapon in each hand, Eret rushed at the remaining guards. Astrid kicked the knee out of one while Eret thrust the other through.

One guard was running away to warn the others and had too much of a head start to be caught on foot. Fortunately, the one Fishlegs hit was in a daze and happened to be trying to maintain his grip on a bow in one hand and an arrow in the other. Eret grabbed them both, notched, drew, aimed, and released. The arrow went right through his lungs and he stumbled to the deck

Astrid casually kicked at the temple of a guard who was trying to struggle back to his feet. She gave Eret an approving look. Fishlegs' face puckered up as if he was about to shout and scream in a tantrum, but then he ended up slumping against the gunwale with a squeak of, "What just happened?"

Snotlout rolled his shoulders as Eret unbound his hands. "I gotta hand it to you, not too bad. I coulda taken them all without almost letting that one get away, but I figured I'd let you have your fun and save my strength for the more important battle to come."

Ruffnut kicked at Snotlout and walked towards Eret, wrists still bound, saying, "Okay, I love you again!"

Eret backed away and cast a pleading look at Astrid. "Please help!"

He felt a wet trickle and remembered that his wrist was bleeding. He took a good look and let out a sigh of relief. It missed any tendons or veins.

Ruffnut oozed closer, licking her lips as she eyed the blood. "Ohhh, someone needs some patching up. I'll do it! We can use your shirt as a bandage! Oh oh! _And_ your pants!"

Eret could only stare in horror. "Mercy, please!"

* * *

 **A/N:  
** Well, I had a chapter titled "Lost" and this one is called "Found," so… roll credits! Hehe, just kidding.

Thanks for reading! Thank you Colorful Crayola for being my beta buddy.

L'assassin orange - I'm glad I'm not the only one who noticed that the Dragon King never got any love. When it died in the movie, I really didn't care; it was just another plot mechanic and nothing more with how shallow its character was. I figured I'd better give her some depth before I have her pumping out BewilderBabies(™).

Dragonrider's Fury - Its about time you posted a review! I cried when I thought you abandoned me for an author with more writing skills than me. Ya know that look a puppy gives you when you kick him? No, me neither, but I'd imagine that was the look on my face. Ehhhh, yeah, anyway… Scenes with Toothless being Toothless are my favorite to write for sure! I always gotta slide 'em in.

Toothlessgolfer - Yep, you nailed it! Actually, that reference to the Night Fury that Valka saw was a tip of the hat to anyone who has read "Dragons 101." Since Night Furies could hear telepathic projections from many miles away in my universe, I figured Toothless' family would have recognized the threat of the Red Death and thus known to stay away. It was a brief mention in that story, but when the Red Death was killed, there was nothing holding them back and Toothless' sisters would have surely been driven to find some males… because of… urges. I'll tell you all about it when you're older. :P


	12. Toured

**Toured**

Eret sighed. He had already donned the polar bear cape and helmet from one of the dead guards. Astrid, Snotlout, and Fishlegs did likewise. They didn't plan on being seen, but it would help them blend in if things didn't go as planned. The bodies of the guards were already dumped overboard and they were ready to move on, but there was one problem.

The twins, of course, were that one problem. They were fighting over one of the polar bear capes because it had a blood stain that looked "badass".

"Anyone object if I shove them both overboard?" Eret casually asked nobody in particular.

"I would!" Tuffnut declared as he tried yet again to yank the cape out of his sister's grasp. "And this one is _mine!_ "

"I saw it first!" Ruffnut countered.

Eret said, "Astrid, we really do need to quiet them down before we're found out."

Astrid walked up to Tuffnut, punched him in the face, and roughly secured the other cape around his neck.

"No fair!" Tuffnut said. "Girls always cheat!"

Snotlout rolled his eyes. "Stuff it. Let's go find our dragons. Hookfang's gotta be going crazy with anxiety by now. Every moment he spends separated from me is pure torture for him!"

"Think he'll set your ass on fire again?" Ruffnut asked.

Snotlout blushed. Fishlegs tried to hide a snicker.

"At least my dragon doesn't look like a fat boulder!" Snotlout snapped at his fellow rider.

Fishlegs looked shocked and hurt. "Meatlug is not fat! Her form is-"

Eret placed a hand over Fishleg's mouth and said, "Really, guys, we need to split up. I don't want _your_ big mouths getting _me_ captured. Just go find your dragons. Drago's crew will crank open the dome traps when we get close, so be ready."

"Wait," Astrid said, "as much as I wanna see Stormfly, allowing our dragons to know we've escaped may be a blunder. If they're enthralled by Drago's Bewilderbeast, and Drago must be a dragon whisperer in order to interact with it, he would be alerted if our dragons see us."

Ruffnut said, "Not to worry. Drago can't hear dragons at all."

"And how would you know that?" Snotlout asked.

"The dragons did a lot of tests. Before we came, nobody on this ship could hear dragons. They're absolutely sure"

Snotlout crossed his arms. "And how would you- Look, you're in the same boat as me. You can't hear dragons, same as me, so they couldn't have told you that. Making stuff up isn't helping"

Ruffnut rolled her eyes. "They didn't tell me, they told Tuff."

As if it were the most obvious thing, Tuffnut started pacing and said, "I was able to touch him as we were marched to our cells. All our dragons are fine, they've never gotten any response from Drago by projecting thoughts at him. BB says there's no room for doubt."

"You could say they… _double_ -checked!" Ruffnut exclaimed. Everyone gave her a blank stare. "Two heads, double-checked… get it?"

"Lame!" Tuffnut said.

Snotlout feigned a laugh. "That was a good one, babe!" Ruffnut looked at him and made a gagging face.

"BB?" Eret asked, instantly doubting his decision to even bother asking.

"Barf and Belch, the two heads of their dragon," Astrid said.

Fishlegs asked, "Wait, how could Tuff have passed that on..." his eyes widened. "Oh no. Please don't tell me you let the guards in on this. If we're the first dragon whisperers Drago has come across, he'll-"

"Tuff told us last night," Ruffnut said. "Remember? The grapes and farting dragons?"

"But…" Fishlegs started to say.

"And I thought I was being too obvious about it," Tuffnut said.

Ruffnut gave a friendly slap on his shoulder. "Na, bro, just the right amount of garnish so the weak-minded can't understand."

"But _none_ of us got anything useful out of that!" Snotlout objected.

"I know," Tuff said as he made a show of inspecting his fingernails. "What would you do without us?"

"Do you guys _always_ talk nonsense like this?" Eret snapped. _Talking dragons_ , he thought to himself. _Silly!_

Astrid ignored him and held the twins with a stern stare. "You're absolutely sure about this?"

The twins nodded in unison.

"Alright," Astrid said, "split up, stay quiet, find your dragon, and don't get caught."

Everyone nodded and walked off in different directions, ducking from cover to cover. Eret stood where he was, suddenly realizing he didn't have a dragon to go find. Besides, just the idea of approaching and freeing one of those beasts sounded like a bad idea.

Ruffnut oozed up to Eret and held her hand out. "Aww, poor Eret has no dragon. You can come with _me_. We will do it together! I mean hide together! All alone, in the dark!"

Eret slowly backed away. Her obsession with him was just plain creepy. Fortunately, Astrid came to the rescue by snatching his hand and dragging him along towards the dome trap holding her dragon.

"Don't ever say I never did anything for you," Astrid whispered at him as they pressed against some large crates that were nailed to the deck.

"Uh, thanks," Eret whispered back. "I, uhhhh, there's gotta be a better hiding spot than inside the cage with… I mean, we're gonna leave it chained up, or muzzled at least?"

Astrid grabbed the scruff of his tunic and yanked him along. "Stormfly is a _she_ , not an _it_." She huffed in irritation. "Maybe she'll set things right by biting your head off."

Eret said nothing. They arrived at the dome trap and he started cranking the winch to separate the dome halves. He could see Ruffnut over by her dragon's trap, drooling at the sight of his biceps working the crank arm. Fortunately, her brother grabbed a braid of hair to snap her out of it and drag her back to their trap.

Something suddenly came to mind. "Astrid, if the crewmen wander by and see the traps already open, they'll be suspicious something's up. If we spring the trap from inside, the half domes slamming shut will make an awful racket. We need somebody on the outside to slowly release the winch to close the domes quietly."

Astrid's eyes narrowed. "Loki's latrine! You're right! Keep cranking, I'll go warn the others to let me close their traps."

"I can just stay outside-"

"Keep cranking!" Astrid hissed as she ran off, furtively scanning for any hostiles as she ran.

Eret finished opening the trap wide enough to slip inside and flicked the crank lock in place. Astrid returned soon after.

"In," she commanded.

"No, ladies first." She gave him a sour look. "Really, your dragon is in there and I'm sure you two can't wait to be together again."

"Oh, no," Astrid said. "I am _not_ letting you out of my sight, dragon trapper."

"But-"

"Besides, you need to overcome your stupid preconception that dragons are simple animals and what better way than to let you and Stormfly get acquainted."

"But-"

"I have an idea to get us both in there and still silently close the trap."

"But-"

"Off you go! I'll go take care of the others and shut their traps."

Astrid shooed him along, then suddenly stopped. "And I'll be taking your halberd. Don't want you getting any ideas in there."

She grabbed the shaft of Eret's halberd, but he twisted away and held it closer. "You really expect me to disarm myself?!" he hissed at her. "Besides, what if a guard finds me and I'm forced to defend myself?"

"Then you die and the world's a better place."

Eret gave her a flat stare. "I am _not_ giving up my only weapon. You go on in and I'll close the traps and find my own hidey hole."

Astrid tightened her grip on her own weapon, squared her shoulders, and lifted her chin. She looked ready to fight him for his halberd but then paused in thought. She looked at the other traps, where the other riders were climbing in, waiting for her to shut the domes. He could see the calculating look as she considered accepting Eret's idea, but she clearly maintained a death grip on the notion that he could still worm his way into Drago's good graces if left alone - an impossible scenario that he wished she could see.

Finally, she took a step back. "Fine. In you go. You don't harm Stormfly or any of us and I promise on my honor that I'll fly you off this ship to safety."

Eret gulped at the thought of letting that dragon grab him in its talons, but anywhere was better than here. He started to climb up into the opened dome.

"And if you harm Stormfly in any way," she hissed after him, "I will make it my personal goal to see how much I can make you suffer before you die."

Eret cautiously dropped down, mindful that, if the springs were strong enough to hold in an angry dragon, they could certainly crush his body. It was dark in there, but he could see the trigger plate and made a mental note to avoid touching it.

At the far end of the trap, hardly three paces away, was Astrid's Deadly Nadder. It was only a couple days ago when he rested his boot on this dragon's muzzled snout. It was the turnaround to a great loss on that hectic day. He and his crew had caught a literal boatload of dragons. They started a forest fire in the process, but such things happen. It was still a very good day for business. Luck favored Eret, but he should have known it would have run out.

That bloody dragon thief and her pet Bewilderbeast attacked and stole everything away. Then, Astrid and her boyfriend rode in on their dragons. Eret had managed to shoot down the girl's Nadder, but that fishbone and his Night Fury got them out of there. _Then_ even more riders came astride their dragons and the day grew worse and worse.

The crazy shield-maiden and her Nadder currently standing in front of him were the catalyst for his most dire woes, but they were also his one lifeline. No matter what Astrid thought, he was now an enemy of Drago. The only direction Astrid would escape would be up on this dragon, and Eret thought it was almost poetic that the very beast that flew him into this mess was the only way he could escape.

Astrid demanded that he make peace with the dragon, but how? It was muzzled in chains and both legs were shackled down, which was a blessed boon, considering that it was agitated, tail lashing back and forth. The venomous quills lining said tail weren't raised, at least, indicating that it wasn't preparing to turn him into a pincushion. Eret cautiously approached the dragon. It stared at him through slit pupils, turning its great snout left and right to look at him from one yellow eye, then the other. For some reason - maybe the way it looked at him or the stance it held - saying nothing felt too awkward.

"Uhhhhh, hi," he shakily said. "Shh shh shh, good dragon. Uhhh, sorry about, ya know, shooting you down… and trying to capture you..."

He forced himself to stop. _I'm talking to a dragon! A bloody dragon! What's next, apologizing to a fish for eating it? Thanking a yak for milk?_

The dragon took a hop forward. Eret stumbled back and almost fell as he hopped over the trigger plate. The dragon cocked its head to the side and flicked its snout as if to say, "And…"

Pressed against the wall, Eret mentally slapped himself for being afraid of a dragon that was muzzled and shackled down. He pushed off the wall and started pacing, mindful of the trigger plate.

"And I don't want to try to capture you anymore, alright?" he mumbled. It continued to stare at him with an intensity that made him itch. "Yeah, I could net a hefty sum from your horns and scaly hide, but you're more trouble than you're worth."

The dragon butted its head into Eret's chest. He stumbled back and hopped over the trigger plate, but it was too late when he realized his blunder. The dragon jerked its leg back, whipping the attached chain at Eret's ankles. He fell and the halberd clattered out of reach. The dragon pressed down from above, quill-laden tail brushing against his neck.

True terror coursed through his veins. Unarmed and pinned down, all he could do was stare up at the yellow eye on the side of the dragon's head that was cocked at him.

"Uhhh," he fumbled, trying to control himself. "Uhh, I mean, I wouldn't want to capture you because that would be a bad idea. Because you're a good dragon?"

The tail withdrew and the weight lessened a little.

"Yeah, good dragon," he continued in a soothing voice. "Good dragon." The weight lessened even more. "Gentle dragon. Nice dragon." The dragon stood up and took a step back and Eret sprang up to his feet.

"Stupid lizard," he muttered.

The dragon stood up and slapped him with its tail. Eret yelped and felt the stinging side of his face. No scratches, amazingly enough. He wouldn't die an agonizing death to Nadder venom.

A slap in the face felt so unjust, though, after all he's done. "Hey! I saved your bloody rider!" He pointed his broken finger at the dragon. "Do you know what Drago would have done to her?! And all I get for thanks is a broken finger and a slap in the face!"

The dragon nestled down and pressed its snout into Eret's hand. Eret deflated at the surprising calm the dragon suddenly exuded

"Because you saved me," he said meekly.

The dragon softly trilled and crooned. Eret caught himself unconsciously stroking the scaly snout.

"Psst!" Astrid whispered from outside. "Catch."

A piece of timber came sailing in. Eret caught it with a grunt. It was a hefty beam over a handspan wide that tapered to a point on one end. Astrid dropped in.

"What's this for?" Eret asked, eyeing the lumber.

Astrid ignored him and rushed over to her dragon. "Oh, you poor girl!" she cooed as she released the muzzle with a key she had filched from the dead guards.

"Wait!" Eret hissed. "What are you _doing_!"

Astrid turned the key to release the muzzle and the dragon shook it off and opened wide its razor-sharp tooth-filled maw.

"Oh, quit your fussing," Astrid said in an annoyed tone. "Storm said she accepts your apology and won't harm you so long as you return the favor." The dragon started licking her neck and she giggled in a manner that didn't seem to fit for such a fiery-tempered shield-maiden. "Storm, gimme a moment. I gotta get your legs." She moved on to the locks on the leg clasps.

She straightened and said, "And for the record, Stormfly was a lot more gentle with you than I would have been. Call her stupid once more and you won't live to regret it."

Astrid grabbed the lumber from Eret's hands, which were shaking now that he was trapped in a confined space with a freed dragon. She then proceeded to climb up to stand on top of the dragon's snout and the dragon raised her up. She raised the timber over her head to rest between the dome halves and said, "Hit the trigger plate."

Eret could only stand there, trying to take it all in. Here he was, a man whose career revolved around trapping the most dangerous animals known to mankind, following in the steps of his father, now watching his only hope for escape perform some strange balancing act. Astrid was standing on top of the snout of a dragon that was filled with sharp teeth, without any hesitation or fear. Dragons were deadly creatures and she was treating it like… like… a trusted friend!

A long moment passed with Astrid standing there and Eret pointing, his mouth working, trying to get out some warning about how insane this was, but only silence came out. Astrid rolled her eyes. The dragon flicked a tail against the trigger plate and the steel half domes closed on the lumber Astrid was holding above her with hardly a soft thud. She slowly lowered the beam and the lips of the half domes rode down the taper to softly shut as the point of the wedge was pulled out.

"Clever girl," Eret said.

In the dark gloom that was illuminated only by needles of sunlight that managed to slither through the cracks of the dome trap, Eret could see the dragon lower itself back down so Astrid could jump off. She landed on the floor and immediately leaned into her dragon, idly scratching its head.

"Not just a pretty face," she said.

Eret sat down against the curved wall of the trap. The dragon settled down and Astrid sat to lean against it. An awkward silence settled on them as they waited for the ship to reach its destination and the trap doors to be opened.

Finally, Eret couldn't take it any longer and said, "How did you teach your dragon that trick?"

"What trick?"

"Balancing you on its snout."

Astrid narrowed her eyes at him. " _Her_ snout. And I just asked her to boost me up by projecting my request. It's like talking, but without actually talking."

Eret scratched his head. "Talking… without talking. Is that _supposed_ to make sense?"

Astrid shrugged. "I don't care. You asked."

The silence stretched on for another awkward duration. Eret felt he had to break it again. "Soooo, you talk to dragons?"

"Yep."

"That's, uhhh, interesting."

"Yep."

"You're content to let this ride be very awkward, aren't you?"

"Yep. Oh, and when they open the trap, you'll need to hide with me under Stormfly."

Eret sighed. "Just swell," he muttered.

########

* * *

########

"And this is heart of Dragon Sanctuary," Valka said, gesturing grandly with her staff.

Stoick grunted and nodded as he stepped out of the icy tunnel and into a surprisingly bright and massive cavern. His first impression was that of beauty and tranquility. The ledge on which they stood was a patchwork of hexagonal shafts of ice, worn smooth from time. Looking around the expansive perimeter, he could see a few tiny waterfalls trickling from the icy cavern walls, running across icy ledges similar to the one on which he stood, and falling down to unseen depths.

After his initial confrontation with his… with Valka, Stoick was insistent on tossing Hiccup onto his dragon and flying home immediately. However, her suggestion that they eat and rest was a compelling one, especially in consideration of their dragons that would need the strength to fly back home. Valka had some of her dragons bring in some unusually large fish and what must have been whale meat and blubber, which Skullcrusher and Grump devoured in the blink of an eye. They would be out solid for a while.

Before wandering off to sleep, they had some draconic conversation with Toothless and Valka's dragon, Cloudjumper. Stoick knew that what he heard in their grumbling and growling was hardly the tip of the iceberg, like hand gestures when a person speaks. Still, it looked like a fairly intense discussion, but Skullcrusher and Grump were assuaged of whatever concerns they may have had. If it had Toothless' seal of approval, that was enough for Stoick. That dragon had more common sense than his rider for sure.

While the dragons rested, Valka insisted on giving a tour of her new home. Stoick had never seen anything like it. In every tunnel and nook, ice and stone were marbled together in an almost mesmerizing way. Sunlight filtered in through the veins of ice, providing a dim but pleasant illumination.

When he stepped into the main cavern, though, he could see why it was called the heart of the dragon nest. Sunlight poured in through a ceiling that was pure ice, but it was polished smooth and transparent. Stoick could actually clearly see the round disk of the sun through the ice. Valka had explained that it was several feet thick, but the dragons used their tails, wings, and fire to keep the snow off this ceiling because they enjoyed the sunlight.

That was actually a project the perpetually inquisitive Fishlegs had set himself to, once, on Berk. With the help of a Terrible Terror, he made a chunk of ice almost transparent by alternately freezing and partially melting it. He got a lot of oohs and ahhs when he ground it into a lense and actually used the sun to start kindling on fire - with ice!

If such a method was used on this ceiling, then surely they must have had some way to rebuild the layers of ice… He decided to make a mental note to ask about that later.

Hundreds of dragons occupied this cavern, some flying, and others basking in the sunlight. They appeared to favor resting on a green, grass-like fungus that grew on most of the ledges. Stoick couldn't hold back a smile as one baby Nightmare nuzzled at his leg. He looked around and spotted the attentive gaze of what must have been its mother, who flicked her head as if to say, "Go ahead, you may hold my offspring." Stoick didn't want to push his luck, so he settled for reaching down and stroking the elongated muzzle.

He followed Valka's lead as she directed him near the ledge so they could see what was below and-

"Gods above!" he shouted as he stumbled back. "What _is_ that thing?!"

Hiccup chuckled. "Remember the big, friendly dragon Mom and I were talking about? Well, Stoick, Gobber, meet the Dragon King."

The massive sea dragon looked up at them and slowly rose to their level. Stoick unconsciously backed up.

Gobber said, "He's… big."

"She, actually," Valka said. "Confusing, I know. Called her Dragon King way back, not long after I got here. Not hear dragons back then. Then learned Dragon King is she. Name stuck."

Stoick stared at the massive dragon standing before him. Its eyes alone were as big as he was, and those were small features on its face, which was dwarfed by its body.

He waved at it uncertainly. "Well, uhh, hello there, big fella… errr, gal." He turned to Hiccup and whispered, "Please tell me this isn't some kind of Red Death that can control a dragon's mind."

Hiccup suddenly decided that the ground was the most fascinating thing in the world and decided to prod at it with the toe of his boot. "Well, uhh-"

"Skullcrusher!" Stoick slapped Gobber's arm and spun about. "C'mon, Gobber! Our dragons!"

"No no no, wait!" Hiccup insisted. Stoick slowed. "They're not in any danger. Don't worry."

Stoick turned and gave a stern stare at his son, who wilted under the pressure.

"Really, Dad, Gobber," Hiccup said, "Trust me. She's not a Red Death. She's not going to control your dragons."

"Hiccup," Stoick said testily.

His son gave his father a level stare. "That's what they were discussing back there, after eating. Do you really think I would take such a risk with Toothless, or even with Skullcrusher or Grump?"

"Point there," Gobber said. "Yer boy loves dragons more than his own kind."

Content for the moment, Stoick turned to face the giant sea dragon again. "So, uhhh, what am I supposed to do, here?"

Valka shrugged. "Nothing expected from you. Wanted to introduce you to her." She bent over and picked up the baby dragon that was previously nuzzling at Stoick's leg. "She watches, as a mother would her hatchlings. Yes, she can control them, but doesn't. She protects and provides. In fact, her icy breath formed Dragon Sanctuary. This place was just a tiny island and jutting sea stacks. She formed it into a home for dragons. I was there. I helped."

Stoick looked around. The Dragon King pushed off the ledge and sunk down into the lapping water at the bottom of the cavern.

"So," Gobber drawled out, "That was… somethin'."

Valka nodded and gave Stoick a sideways look. "I know this does not justify leaving you and Hiccup, but I want you to see why I stay. Not just afraid to go back to Berk. Afraid to leave these dragons."

Stoick scoffed. "They're _dragons_ , Valka."

"They're _people_ , Stoick!" she shot back hotly.

Stoick pinched the bridge of his nose. He knew dragons were… people. Gods, the very notion would have been something he'd dismiss only a few years ago, even after living with a Night Fury in his own house. In his years riding Skullcrusher, he kept catching himself drifting back into the "dragons are flying mules" mentality and would have to remind himself of the many proofs he'd seen that they were companions, equals, and not mere beasts of burden. Skullcrusher didn't seem to mind either way, but Hiccup said he was simply an easy-going and tolerant dragon, the very definition of humble.

Stoick softly said, "I didn't mean it that way, Valka. We have carpenters, farmers, fishermen. We specialize and trade goods and services. It takes a village to raise a child, as the saying goes. Dragons aren't like that. They're self-sufficient. Do you have dragon blacksmiths and potters here?"

Valka stared at him and nodded as she hummed in thought for a moment and then walked along the platform, gesturing for him to follow. She strode up to a strange looking dragon that looked cumbersome over land and in the air. It was similar in size to the aptly-named Monstrous Nightmare but much bulkier, with four stubby legs and a large head with robust jaws. It was also missing the lower half of its right foreleg.

Valka stroked the dragon's snout and said, "This Snafflefang was caught in one of Drago Bludvist's iron traps. He was so scared and hurt that he bit his own leg off to escape. Found his way here and collapsed on the beach. Lost so much blood he didn't even have the strength to eat. Lost the will to live. We had to literally force pre-chewed fish down his throat."

The dragon sniffed at Gobber's peg leg and then stared into his eyes with a sad crooning sound. Gobber smiled and waved it off jovially. "Live and learn," he said. "What don't kill ya makes ya stronger. Gimme some time and I'll make a peg for ya."

Valka shifted over to another type of dragon that Stoick never saw. This one had legs even more slender and stubby, but with a long body, stability fins on its back and head, and large, powerful wings. Stoick figured this dragon was made to fly long distances.

Valka used her staff to lift a wing, revealing some long scars on the underside of the wing membrane. "This Raincutter was caught in razor netting," she said sadly. "Took years for wing membrane to grow back enough for stable flight. I learned things, though. Dragons heal fast, but gash too large to seal properly. Encouraged growth of wing membrane by scraping at scabbed edges and sewing a little at a time. Very painful, but she insisted. Glad it worked."

She walked up to an even larger dragon that had a bulbous head, a large horn, powerful hind legs, and stubby front legs that seemed to serve almost no purpose. "This Thunderclaw was very young when he was blinded by a tree snare, then left to die, alone and scared."

Stoick took a step and reached a hand out to touch the dragon, but it sniffed, growled, and backed away, retreating to nuzzle a Nadder.

"Take no offense," Valka said. "You can imagine why he's wary of humans." She gestured to the Nadder the Thunderclaw was rubbing against. "She found him, took him here. You've no doubt heard that dragons can project anything. Remember that they have some range, unlike us, so she acts as his eyes."

Valka walked up to an interesting looking dragon. It was about the size of a Nadder, with a fin on its tail like a Nightmare, and some sort of fin across the back of its head that appeared to be able to rotate and fan out.

"And this poor Hobblegrunt was found tangled up in netting." The dragon tucked its head under her arm and emitted a rattling sound. Stoick blinked in surprise as its entire body changed color from purple with turquoise spots to olive green.

"Cloudjumper and I found her just last year. She was starving, a single breath from death. Oh, the way her flesh clung to her ribs…" Valka crooned at the dragon and its color shifted and pulsated in warm hues of amber.

"I think she'll let you touch her," Hiccup suggested.

Stoick nodded and slowly reached his hand forward. The frill on the dragon's head fanned out and she seemed agitated, but she held her ground. Hiccup pantomimed turning his head to the side and closing his eyes. Stoick made a face at his son, but he complied. He felt something warm and wet on his hand and looked to see the dragon gently, delicately, lapping at his hand and arm. He had to admit it was an endearing sight. Disgusting, yes, but also endearing.

"You should see her in flight, Dad," Hiccup said. "That fin on her head allows for some crazy stunts. I bet Astrid and Stormfly would absolutely _love_ flying with her."

As Stoick idly stroked the jaw and looked into the gleam of the dragon's eyes, he couldn't help but wonder what she would be saying. Stoick knew that dragons could talk. His own son was a dragon whisperer, as were some of the other riders. He got along just fine without being able to hear Skullcrusher, but maybe, he figured, this old dog could learn a new trick.

Now that he found his long-lost wife, even if she remained here and Stoick remained on Berk, he felt a certain peace settle on him. _Maybe_ , he thought to himself, _once Hiccup begins to take over as chief and I get more free time, I'll retire here and live the rest of my days beating down dragon trappers. Maybe I'll start these meditation sessions the boy is always gabbing on about and learn to hear them someday. Maybe Skullcrusher and I will share battle stories and reminisce about deeds past._

As Valka continued introducing him to the dragons that happened to be on their ledge, it all came together for him.

"So many species I've never seen before," Stoick mumbled. He turned to Valka and said, "You weren't just hiding from the big bad Stoick. You weren't just _living_ with them. You were _saving_ them."

Valka nodded coyly. "You're right, dragons take care of self, but what about when people hunt them down? There's much cruelty in this world, and what person could ignore such a calling."

"Aye," Stoick solemnly said. "The more I see of what you've done, the less convinced I am that I should ask you to come back to Berk with me."

"I…" Valka started, but she paused in thought, staring into Stoick's eyes. In her eyes, Stoick could see the things she wanted to say but couldn't. Eventually, she settled on, "I would go to Berk, at least for a little while. Maybe we could… hmm, if I- no, you would need to..." she drifted off.

Stoick nodded. "It's a puzzle we will not solve today, but we will eventually." He winked. "Is there any creature in this world more stubborn than a Haddock?"

Valka let out a squeaking gasp at that last word. She opened her mouth, but nothing came out.

Stoick smiled. "We'll figure something out."

Valka tucked her face into his beard. "Yes. We will"

* * *

 **A/N:**  
Thanks for reading! And thank you, Colorful Crayola, for being my beta buddy.

I've read a few stories that covered Valka's initial exodus from Berk. In all those stories, she was taken straight away to the Dragon Sanctuary, flown down some tunnels, and plopped in front of the Dragon King. Though I dropped little more than a few vague suggestions here and there, I thought it'd be fun to challenge the assumption that the Dragon King was what she is in HTTYD 2, or that there even was a Dragon Sanctuary in the first place when Valka first arrived. In fact, my beta said that HTTYD canon has Valka and Drago both raising their Bewilderbeasts from the egg, which raises a thousand questions about where they came from

And if you feel compelled to drop a line and tell me what you think of my story, THANK YOU! I love hearing from this wonderful community!

L'assassin orange - Thanks for the feedback. Maybe writing awkward reunions is my specialty. Oh, and don't worry, there will be some divergence from the canon, but if I play my cards right, you won't see it coming. Bewilderbabies ahoy!

Dragonrider's Fury - I was scratching my head for the longest time with what to do with the riders and Eret on Drago's ship. In my opinion, the movie did a terrible job making any of that believable. I'm not entirely happy with the realism of how I handled it, but my compulsion to cling to canon like stink on dragon dung left me little room. I was actually tempted to have Stormfly fly back to Berk and rally help, then they would converge on Drago as he converged on the Dragon Sanctuary, they'd have their big fight there, and roll credits. However, canon aside, I figured 10Blue10 sorta did that already.

Oh, and as for dogs, I just figured the movie glazed over them. I figured they're common enough in Viking villages for hunting and herding. Supposedly, they believed that a faithful dog would follow its master to Valhalla… reminds me of a certain movie…

Toothlessgolfer - I'm glad you liked the guilt trip I laid on Stoick and Valka. That's actually one awesome thing I love about books. Where movies nowadays rely on little more than fast-paced action and cool graphics to be worth seeing (*COUGH* Marvel *COUGH*), I love how books can pick apart a moment, put the reader in the character's head, span a single moment over a whole chapter and develop that deep bond with the characters.

Oh, and expect Ruffnut to get even more feisty once airborne.


	13. Revealed

**Revealed**

"Hello? Midgard to Valka."

Valka shook herself back to the present and gave a shy smile at her… at Stoick. She clawed through her mind, trying to recall what he was saying that she missed. Maybe it was about Dragon King? Stoick had grown even more quiet and thoughtful since his introduction to her. Even before that, though, the impassive look on his face and the way he carried himself was a little unnerving.

It was so hard to accept that this was the same man she last saw twenty years ago. He used to be jovial and enthusiastic about everything. A smile always adorned his face and he showed nothing short of excitement for everything. He was kind and gentle and it was beyond a dream-come-true to be his wife. Every gentle caress carried an ocean of tender love and he never ceased to express how thankful he was for all that he had.

Happy, Valka realized, was the main thing he used to be. He used to be very happy.

The man she saw in her dragon sanctuary, though, could not be compared to the man from whom she was snatched away. Now, he had a cold, calculating look in his eyes. He was withdrawn and aloof, always on guard. He simply seemed a little less human, like a dog that was treated too harshly in training, highly-disciplined but never happy.

She had no clue what to expect from him. Honestly, this confrontation was going so much better than she dared to hope. For twenty years, she always imagined what would happen if she were to return to Berk. Cloudjumper could have easily found a safe cave to hide in. The look on the faces of all the villagers upon seeing the return of the long-assumed dead Valka would have been priceless.

Then things would always go terribly wrong. She would tell them all about her dragon sanctuary and they would outcast her, maybe even kill her on the spot. Perhaps they would torture her into divulging the sanctuary's location and a war party would be sent out. Maybe she would say nothing about her dragons and try to live her old life, but that would have inevitably led to an eventual confrontation when she couldn't kill - let alone watch someone kill - a dragon that wasn't evil, just not in his right mind.

Maybe she would run into trouble and Cloudjumper would swoop in to save the day… and then get shot down by bolas and beheaded by an ax.

When she discovered Hiccup flying on a dragon - a Night Fury at that - she dared to hope she could return. If Berk really has reformed so dramatically, they would likely accept her, but it would only be a short visit because she could never bring herself to leave Dragon King and all the dragons here. She would never be content to cease her efforts in freeing trapped dragons. And there was certainly no way she would ever stop flying with Cloudjumper. Even if Stoick accepted her as his wife again, her loyalty would be torn between him and her calling to rescue trapped dragons.

Stoick cleared his throat and Valka jumped. She looked around her sleeping chamber that they had all gathered in and settled back against her dragon. He was staring at her. A shy smile and a gesture of the hand encouraged him to go on.

"I was wondering when, exactly, did you realize dragons were intelligent creatures?" he asked. "When did you realize they were…" he paused, "people?"

At that last word, Hiccup's face lit up like a Nadder's fireball. Skullcrusher trilled contentedly and nuzzled Stoick.

Valka smiled. "From what I've heard, if you had any doubt, The Trial put that to rest."

Stoick groaned. "I'm guessing Hiccup told you about that… disaster."

"I didn't say anything about it," Hiccup declared with a thumb to his chest.

Stoick eyed his son, then looked over at the Night Fury, who hid his head behind a wing. That wing didn't block his chortling, though.

"Yeah, you better hide, you little newt," Stoick grumbled, smacking a fist into an open hand. "If Hiccup weren't quite so attached to that pile of scales…"

"He'll make good chief," Valka said, trying to suppress a giggle.

"Aye, if he can keep his mind to a task that doesn't involve his dragon for longer than the blink of an eye," Stoick said. "I really do want to know, Val, when you first realized dragons were intelligent, and not just dumb animals.

Valka blinked and thought about it. "Some before I was taken away, some after. I see patterns in raids. Dragons mostly try to avoid direct confrontation. Only want food. Makes no sense. Animals fight for food, but only if no other option. I figured dragons could easily provide for self and hatchlings. Why fly so far to take _our_ livestock? What man would snatch carcass from bear when safer, easier to hunt his own?"

Stoick grunted. "You saw all that?"

Valka shrugged. "Nobody listen to me. But never assumed them intelligent. Like people. Taken to Dragon King. Hectic, those early days. Me scared, them not understanding me. I now know Cloudjumper showed me to Dragon King. Tell of his enthrallment. Ask what I am. To me, though, I was just surviving. Took years to start hearing them. Two, maybe. You know I always meditate in morning. That is key to hear dragons."

Stoick hummed in thought. Valka could tell he was unsettled by that. About a year before she was snatched away, things had become a little… tense. Her pleading to figure out another way to deal with the dragons than simply hunt them down was met with disregard, then irritation in increasing degrees. Things would have only become worse with time and her captor dragon was gentle enough with her… once he learned to trust her on his back instead of clutched in his talons.

Cloudjumper, against whose prone form she was leaning, craned his neck around to nuzzle her hand. _{I really do regret how I treated you back then. At that time, to me, you were nothing more than a curiosity, a simple rodent that I wanted to take along. I am ashamed about that and do regret it.}_

Valka chuffed at her dragon and silently projected back to him, _{It's not your fault. There was so much distrust on all sides. The demonic queen bears all the blame. She encouraged us to hate each other.}_

"How about you, son? When did you realize dragons were people?" Stoick asked Hiccup.

Hiccup shrugged and looked at Toothless. "When I looked into his eyes."

Valka raised her eyebrows and cocked her head in inquiry.

"Yeah," Hiccup said. "I looked into his eyes and I saw-"

"Yourself, yes," Stoick interrupted. "You saw a creature who was lonely and scared and that was also you." He paused and slumped his shoulders. "Sorry, I shouldn't have cut you off. Can't make a man of you if I treat you like a child."

"No, it's okay," Hiccup said. "I never told you that was... " he paused, "a convenient lie. I, uhh… well, you know how things have been. We've both worked so hard in the past five years to… ya know…"

"To reverse the damage of disowning you and almost killing your best friend before almost feeding my tribe to the Red Death?" Stoick suggested, his face grim.

Hiccup cringed. "I can't blame you, Dad, really. The way I tried to challenge everything you valued and demand instant reform-"

Stoick waved it off. "We've trodden that path down to bedrock, son. So, you looked into your dragon's eyes and…?"

Hiccup straightened and took a moment to fix his expression. Valka could tell he was relieved that Stoick averted an awkward conversation they must have had many times already, but unsettled at just leaving things lay as they were.

He finally said, "Yeah, that. What I really meant is… well… it's… not flattering."

Stoick shrugged. "Let it out, son. I'd rather take a slap to the face than a knife to the back."

Hiccup chuckled nervously and looked over at his dragon. "When I looked into his eyes, well… I realize it sounds real sappy…"

"Out with it," Valka said in a no-nonsense voice.

Hiccup closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "I saw everything I could gain from killing him," he spat out. "Call it a vision. I remember as clear as day. I saw myself, in the village square, with the dead heart of…"

He faltered. Toothless padded over and sat down behind him, framing him between two black forelegs and delicately licking the back of his neck. Hiccup sat up straighter and pressed on.

"I saw everyone fawning over what I did. Every dragon, 'kill on sight', but who slew the one that the dragon book said to 'hide from and pray it does not find you'?" His lips twisted into a crooked grin. "Me, Hiccup the useless. I saw Snotlout staring with jealousy as I granted Astrid's breathless request to go on a date. I saw myself as the hero of the day, and you declaring to the village how proud you were of me. I saw everything I had always wanted in life, everything I always dreamed of…"

He thumped the back of his head against Toothless' chest. "And I suddenly realized I _hated_ it. It was poison. I saw the endless chain of killing and dying, the pointlessness of war, and I was just one more link in that chain that I suddenly did not want to touch. I decided that I would sooner die than link up with that chain."

Hiccup gave a goofy smile. "So, I cut him loose and accepted that he might just eat me."

Toothless licked at Hiccup's hair. _{I would have never eaten you. Land-strider blood tastes good, but your meat is horrible.}_

Hiccup batted a hand at his dragon's snout. "Gee, thanks."

Silence settled over the chamber for a while. Stoick nodded at Hiccup. Valka stared at the ground, once again reminded of how much she missed out on by staying away.

Gobber broke the silence by yawning obnoxiously loud and saying, "So, I think the cooking stone is hot enough by now." He gestured over to the wide, flat rock over the cooking fire in the center of the room, one of the reasons Valka chose here as her living chamber instead of one that was made more from ice than stone.

With that, the tension broke. Stoick mumbled, "Good talk," and everyone got up to find a task to set themselves to, like fetching fish from an icy chest carved into the far end of the room, soaking them, and slicing fillets. Valka found some oil and herbs she had acquired from her last flight to a trade port. She always kept her dragon a secret, flying in low and at night, but nobody ever questioned where she acquired bear pelts, seal skins, and whale blubber for trade.

As Gobber set the fish fillets to sizzle on the cooking stone, he said, "I remember the first time _I_ realized dragons were intelligent creatures. It was, I think, about two weeks after Hiccup saved our arse from the Red Death. He was still sleeping like the lazy lard he's always been."

Toothless gave a mock snarl. Gobber crossed his arms. "That's so adorable.

"Anyway," he went on, "Stoick was very drunk and-"

"I wasn't drunk!" Stoick insisted. "I was… a little tipsy."

Gobber gave him a flat stare. "Yeah, that, sure, we all believe ya. Anyway, that was _before_ we left the Great Hall and he pulled out the mini keg at his house that his brother brought him the other day."

Stoick pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'm pretty sure that's not quite how things went."

Gobber flipped the fish with a knife. "We almost believe ya Stoick, but let me tell ya, you were a hoot!"

"Gobber…"

"Allow me to reenact the scene," he said as he walked over to Toothless. That man had two legs when Valka was snatched from Berk and she found the way he hopped on his peg leg to be… amusing.

Gobber said, "Stoick was in his house, I was with him tryin' to calm his nerves. There was a bloody _Night Fury_ within those flammable walls, after all, curled around his son! So, Stoick has nine full mugs in him-"

"Five! At most!" Stoick interrupted.

"Maybe it was seven. Anyway, he started actin'… funny. So," he began in a terrible impersonation of Stoick's voice, gesturing with his arms as a disappointed instructor to an incompetent pupil, "Yer a dragon." he poked Toothless. "This is my house." he poked a thumb to his chest. "Yer a dragon in my house." More poking. "And yer not attacking me. Good. I've killed dragons." Poke. "Well, not you, yer alright. Did ya know yer a dragon?" Even more poking.

Stoick grumbled, "I'm quite certain that's not how it really went.

Going on with his laughable impersonation, Gobber said, "My son rode a dragon," poke, "once. I think it was you." Poke. "The dragon," poke, "that is, not my son. And ya," poke, "killed," poke, "my," poke, "wife. Not you, yer fine. Some other dragon," poke, "killed her. Do ya know him? I'll find him and kill him." Poke. "Yer a dragon, did ya know that? You're a dragon," poke, "in my-" he suddenly stiffened and dropped the accent. "Ack! The fish!"

Toothless whipped around and grabbed the blunt hook attached to his stump of an arm. Gobber twisted his arm free, leaving the hook in the dragon's mouth, and hobble-ran over to scrape the slightly burned fish off the cooking stone.

"And how did that prove Toothless was intelligent?" Hiccup asked.

Gobber gestured to the hook Toothless was idly gnawing on. "Because he was clearly exercisin' restraint with Stoick. Not biting a man who's pokin' ya just ain't natural."

"I did not say all that," Stoick said.

"Did too."

"Did not."

"Too."

"Not."

They suddenly stopped to look at Valka. She was sitting along the wall, arms wrapped around her knees, chin pressed into her kneecaps, trying not to cry. Cloudjumper was dutifully relaying Toothless' comment that Gobber's recollection was pretty much spot-on. Stoick really did miss her, even twenty years later. She had never considered that possibility, having always assumed he would have just moved on.

Stoick walked over and held out a hand. Valka hesitated, but she accepted it. He pulled her up and wrapped his massive arms around her.

"Valka," he said, then paused. Valka could see in his eyes all the things he was hesitant to say: "We can still make this work," or "I'm just glad to have found you again," or "I love you."

Instead, he settled on, "The past has passed. Let's focus on the present. Here, supper's ready. Ladies first."

Valka accepted a fish fillet folded onto a wooden skewer. Her stomach was rumbling not too long ago, but now she didn't feel hungry at all. Still, she nibbled with a meek, "Thank you."

Stoick punched Gobber in the shoulder and the blacksmith wobbled a bit.

"Yeah," Gobber said, "yer right. Sorry. That's the _other_ reason I never married. I never knew when to leave well enough alone."

########

* * *

########

Hiccup looked at his mother, then his father. There were smiles on their faces. They looked so happy and peaceful. His father held a sword in one hand, and his mother held the other hand, which rested on the snout of a dragon.

Under any other circumstances, it would have been a heart-warming sight. However, Hiccup wished the ground would open up and swallow him up whole.

They were dead.

They were _all_ dead. Everyone! Struck down, torn up, many burned beyond recognition. Gobber was dead. Spitelout was dead. Gothi, the village elder and healer, was dead. Even the mothers and children holed up in the Great Hall were dead. The mighty doors withstood the ground-shaking abuse for a while, but they eventually succumbed to inexhaustible forces.

Hiccup was the sole survivor, and that brought him nothing but shame, even though there was nobody alive to ridicule him. He had hidden himself in a root cellar. He felt like a coward, but what else was there to do? The attack was overwhelming. There were simply too many, it was all too sudden, the village was too lax.

Hiccup looked again at his father, riddled with venomous Nadder quills. He looked at the long claw that was still attached to a severed talon, impaled through his mother's torso. He envied them. They died happy, knowing they stood and fought instead of slithering into a hole like a coward.

He couldn't hold it in any longer. He shouted at the departing demons that took everything away from him. He roared and howled and stomped his feet until his whole body quivered. He shouted some more, fell down to exhaustion, and whimpered because he didn't have the strength for anything else.

He would not allow himself to fall asleep, though. They earned a peaceful rest, but he did not. They deserved a proper send-off, all of them.

Day and night, he worked. It was all the more difficult with his entire left arm missing, a trophy from the time he stumbled in his mad dash for his hiding spot with a Monstrous Nightmare on his heels. He had cauterized the wound as best he could; there was no lack of fire nearby. The wound stopped bleeding, at least, so he pressed on with his labor.

Eventually, he fell asleep, overwhelmed with fatigue, but when he woke, he immediately resumed his labor. He built many pyres. They started as smaller one-person pyres from what timber he could scavenge that was not already entirely consumed by flames. There were so many unburned bodies, though. So many people infinitely greater than him, let down by him, disappointed in him.

Each pyre he built grew larger and larger. Eventually, whole houses that were only half-burned to ash served as pyres. He built ramps to haul the bodies up on top, figuring they could share the ships sending them off to Valhalla. They shared in life, and now they could share beyond.

As he lit the last pyre - formally his family's house - Hiccup sensed the presence of someone behind him. He whirled around to find a gaunt stranger, cloaked in black, with pale skin and black hair. The orange glow of the fires barely pierced the shadows of his hood.

The heat from the inferno behind Hiccup blasted at his backside but he felt only a bone-deep chill. The stranger took a step forward. Hiccup took a step backward but the searing heat stopped him.

"What do you want?" he demanded, lowering his stance to run to the side if he had to.

The hooded man gave a crooked smile. "I was about to ask you the same question," he said in a dark, menacing voice.

"Wh… What do you mean?" Hiccup asked. "Who are you?"

The stranger halted his advance. "Who I am matters not, but I know who you are." He looked around at all the burning pyres. "So many. You've been busy."

Hiccup waved his one hand dismissively and shouted, "Go away!"

"I will, I will," the stranger said in a smooth tone. "But first you must answer my question. What do you want?"

"What does it matter?!" Hiccup snapped.

"Consider it an offer of kindness from a stranger who owes you nothing."

Hiccup stood there for a moment, thinking. "I don't know."

The stranger pursed his lips. "That's not true and you know it. What do you want?"

"I want to be more like them," Hiccup said. "Strong, courageous, honorable."

"They're dead!" the stranger spat out. "You wish to be dead?"

"I… I…" Hiccup paused, trying to hold back the tide, but the walls broke down and the floodgates opened. "I want them back!" he shouted. "I want my family back! I want my friends back! I want my tribe back!"

He stood there, panting from the exertion of his outburst. He would have been crying if he still had any tears left.

The stranger leaned back and crossed his arms. "That's not something you can have and you know it. Now, tell me, what do you _really_ want?"

Hiccup thought for a moment. "I want to kill those demons that killed my family! No, that's not enough. I want to have mastery over them. I want them to suffer a worse fate than they caused. I want to confront our allies who denied us aid. I want to confront our neighbors who told us not to worry. They said there was no cause for alarm with the raids growing worse and worse and my whole tribe paid the price for their selfishness!"

The stranger smiled. "You want vengeance?"

"Yes!" Hiccup shouted. "I! Want! Vengeance! I want to give back what I have received!"

The stranger rubbed his hands together. "Now we're talking my language. You ask for a lot, but what are you willing to give in return?"

"Anything."

"Is that it?"

"Everything."

"Ohhh," the stranger said, licking his lips, "Everything?"

Hiccup lifted his chin. "Yes, everything."

"Would you give me your allegiance?"

"Yes."

"Would you give up your life?"

"Yes!" Hiccup shouted in frustration.

"Would you give up your humanity?"

"Yes! Everything! I said I'd give up everything!"

"Would you give up your soul?"

"I! Said! EVERYTHING!"

"Would you give up your-"

" _ **EVERYTHING!**_ "

The stranger huffed at that. "Youth these days, so rude. Alright, I think I can work with that. There's just one more thing to do."

He leaned forward, grabbed Hiccup's head, and stuck out his tongue to give a lick to his cheek. A blinding light lit up the sky.

"Mmmph!" Hiccup mumbled. "Ewww!"

He flailed his arm to ward off the slobbery assault. The blinding light came into focus to reveal a black head with a big, pink tongue licking Hiccup's face. He squirmed and swiped at the tongue, batting it away.

Suddenly, it hit him. He had two arms! Two hands!

He then went completely slack as his groggy mind woke up. It was all a dream. Just a stupid dream.

"Alright, I'm up," he mumbled. His mouth felt parched, but at least the slobbery assault ceased.

 _{Good! You were having a nightmare again and it was driving me crazy.}_

"Mmmph. Yeah, I know."

 _{I mean, I wasn't even in your dream! How insulting!}_

Hiccup looked up to see his dragon giving a big, toothless grin.

 _{And if you say it was some sort of message from those invisible, all-powerful beings you land-striders are always talking about, I will sit on you until you turn blue.}_

Hiccup smiled and rose to a seated position. "Glad to hear it, Bud."

 _{Besides, I think you'll want to see this. I do believe your sire is courting your dam.}_

* * *

 **A/N:  
** Thanks for reading and thank you Colorful Crayola for being my beta buddy. Also, I'd like to express my most sincere gratitude for anyone who takes the time to give me some feedback of any sort. I love every bit of insight I can glean from this wonderful community!

L'assassin orange, Stoick is actually one of my favorite characters to write about in my stories. If you'll pardon a self-plug and got too much time on your hands, Dragon Whisperer is a story where I spend a fair bit fleshing out Stoick in the early days, when he's really taking those good ol' baby steps.

Dragonrider's Fury, I'm glad you were also bothered by Eret's quick conversion. I think I'll convert him by the end. Maybe. I might even have him take someone with him.

Toothlessgolfer, for the record, Stoick and Valka tag-teaming a trapper ship would be awesome! Best retirement ever!


	14. Escaped

**Escaped**

Stoick took a deep breath and tried to compose himself. He couldn't take it any longer, this game of cat-and-mouse regarding their relationship. If he pushed Valka away - again - he would never forgive himself. He wasn't sure how she would respond to bluntly asking to reaffirm their marriage vows, but he decided to man up and press forward. Nothing would happen if he did nothing and he knew it.

But how to proceed? Just walk up to her and say, "Valka, would you like to be my wife again?" No. Tasteless. Unimaginative. Too blunt, even for Stoick. Besides, he wanted her to have at least _some_ time after realizing what he was asking to make a decision.

 _What would the old Stoick do?_ he asked himself. The old Stoick, the man who hadn't yet lost his wife, did not hide behind an emotionless face. The mind of that husband and father had not yet crawled into a hardened shell to hide behind his calculating role as a chief. The old Stoick was truly happy, ecstatic about life. The sun was brighter, the rain wetter, the winter wind more refreshing, the snow whiter.

So what if dragons were raiding and stealing their livestock? Their love burned hotter than a Nadder's fire. So what if a single raid had just wiped out so many homes that the Great Hall nearly burst with occupants? They had each other. So what if his dancing resembled a seizure and his singing wasn't that good? People would just have to endure his tireless attempts to win the heart of the woman who held his. _That_ was the old Stoick the Vast.

With a newfound resolve, he looked over at his… at Valka. She had her back turned, holding a clay pitcher to collect water that was trickling down from the floes of ice that surrounded their chamber. She had explained that she had carved channels from the top of this fortress, where a dragon could melt some of the accumulated snow to send fresh water trickling down. It was a tad salty but still quite good and a lot more convenient than flying off to some lake on another island.

He started whistling the intro to an old song he and Valka used to sing. The tune wandered up and down carelessly, like giggling children running up and down the steps to the Great Hall. Hiccup was still rubbing the sleep from his eyes, but Gobber dreamily said, "Oh, I love this one."

The whistling had the intended effect. Valka tensed up, clearly recognizing the tune. It was fairly common for any wedding night, but it was _their_ song. They sang it together after each mug of ale, each iteration a little less intelligible and more amusing to watch.

Stoick stood next to Valka. Her rigid fingers released the pitcher she was holding when his shoulder brushed against hers, but he grabbed it and gently set it down, whistling all the while. Reaching the end of the stanza, he started softly singing, which was something he had never done in twenty years, and he initially cringed because it sure sounded like it.

 _I'll swim and sail on savage seas,  
with na'er a fear of drowning.  
And gladly ride the waves of life,  
If you will marry me._

Valka was as stiff as stone, eyes downcast. Stoick decided to press his luck by gently brushing a finger along her jawline, trying to get her to look at him.

 _No scorching sun nor freezing cold will-_

Gobber jovially interrupted, "Will stop me on my jour… ney… Sorry."

Stoick picked up the pitcher and chucked it at the blacksmith, who caught it with a chuckle. Stoick rolled his eyes. _Gobber being Gobber_. He then resumed the song, determined not to back down and give up.

 _If you will promise me your heart…_

He was starting to feel truly worried. There was no response from Valka. Was she in shock? He was ready to catch her if she fainted, but the suspense was killing him. Accept him or reject him, he needed a response!

 _And… love…_

He faltered. Still nothing from Valka, no sign of even having heard him. He gently grasped her trembling hand in his. She was still standing there, back turned, not even glancing over at him.

In the tense silence, he suddenly doubted himself. This was a bad idea. Too much, too fast, too soon. He stared at the ground in dejection. _Foolish!_ He thought to himself. _What, are you sixteen again? You cannot bring back the past! You will always be alone because you're too cold and-_

 _And love me for eternity._

Valka's melodious voice rang out softly, timidly. Stoick felt light-headed as he let the air rush out of his lungs. Valka took in a shaky breath, rolled her shoulders square, gave a sideways look into Stoick's eyes, and took a step past him. Stoick felt his heart attempt to beat its way out of his chest when she actually continued to sing on.

 _My dearest one, my darling dear,  
Your mighty words astound me._

She sounded more confident, more composed. She slowly turned to Stoick and extended an arm out, forearm bent up at the elbow, an invitation to dance with her.

 _But I've no need of mighty deeds,  
when I feel your arms around me._

Stoick let out a gentle chortle and returned the gesture, crossing his arm with hers. This was their song, their dance, their moment, all over again. He took a deep breath and clasped her hands, starting to dance with her as he continued with his part of the song.

 _But I will bring you rings of gold,  
I'll even sing you poetry,  
And I will keep you from all harm,  
If you would stay beside me._

It was almost impossible not to break down and cry. For the first time in uncountable years, he felt his eyes watering up. The way she looked at him… Gods, she was smiling! She was laughing! They were dancing together!

 _Twenty years apart_ , he thought to himself. _Worlds away for all it mattered, but despite the distance and the dragons and the crazy warlords who want to conquer us, we're together again!_

Valka cheerily slid right into her verse of the song.

 _I have no use for rings of gold,  
I cannot bear your poetry,  
I only want your hand to hold,_

Stoick joined her in singing.

 _I only want you near me!_

 _To love, to kiss, to sweetly hold,  
For dancing and for dreaming,  
Through all life's sorrows and delights,  
I'll keep your love inside me._

 _I'll swim and sail the savage seas,  
With na'er a fear of drowning!  
And gladly ride the-_

Thunder sounded out and the cavern shook. Stoick stumbled and landed in a roll, careful not to land on Valka.

"What was that?" he asked as he scrambled to his feet. Instantly, his instincts of a chief whose village regularly endured raids from dragons and Vikings alike took over.

Hiccup jumped up to his feet, hand and eyes on his dragon's snout. The dragon's sensor lobes crowning his head were dancing as the dragon closed his eyes and thrummed in concentration. Stoick knew he was using those to feel for thoughts or emotions or something to do with all people passively projecting something. It was all hocus pocus to Stoick, but that dragon had proven that he could detect almost any living thing in the area, even through solid stone walls. Once, he even spotted a Changewing dragon that was invisible to the eye.

Hiccup said, "Toothless can sense something. An army. An invasion."

"Drago," Stoick whispered.

Hiccup continued, saying, "They… No, they can't. You're sure, Bud? Yes, I see it, but maybe all this ice and stone is throwing your senses off? I know how silly that sounds, but this just can't be!"

"Spit it out," Stoick demanded.

Hiccup turned to face him with a horrified look on his face. "Yes, this must be Drago. Dad, the gang is there mixed in with his army, Astrid, Fishlegs, the twins, and Snotlout."

"Are they safe for now?" Stoick asked.

Hiccup stared into his dragon's eyes. "They… they're crazy!" Turning to Stoick, he said, "Yes. They are in a position to escape, but they need a distraction or they'll just get shot down as soon as they clear the ground."

Stoick looked at Toothless and said, "Tell them to stay put, then. We'll… figure something out."

"They have a Bewilderbeast, just like Dragon King, and it appears to be obedient to Drago," Hiccup added.

"The dragons!" Valka cried out.

She spun around to mount up on Cloudjumper but Stoick grabbed her hand. "Hold on, there," he gently said. "We're a family, now, and Drago is going to learn how big of a mistake it is to threaten those whom I love. Victory favors those who are prepared, so let's look before we leap."

The two ran out to the ledge overlooking the icy beach. Stoick's hard, calculating eyes took in the scene. A grey Bewilderbeast rammed the icy fortress and the whole place shook again. An army marched up from their boats, dragging and pushing various dragon traps and heavy artillery. He estimated over a thousand soldiers, all heavily clad and ready to fight dragons, along with a couple dozen heavy artillery pieces. A closer look confirmed the usual dragon-slaying arms of halberds, axes, hammers, bolas, and gods knew what else he couldn't see.

The grey Bewilderbeast looked up at their ledge and Stoick quickly dragged his wife back to safety as a massive blast of ice hit. Spikes of ice erupted from the walls of the cave by the entrance to block that way out.

Valka tried to pull away but Stoick tightened his grip. "We can't rush into this blind!" he said. "War is my language, don't forget."

"What do we do, then?" she implored, face creased with worry.

"Berk," he whispered.

"What?"

"We have hundreds of dragons on Berk. A dozen tribes also have dragon riders nowadays. This is a threat to them as much as us; they will answer our call. Drago has ships, but he's after your dragons and they can fly. We'll all fly to Berk, combine our forces, and Drago will regret trying to tangle with us."

"But what about the hatchlings?!" Valka shouted in hysteria. "They can't fly! And what of the injured dragons?!"

"And our riders!" Hiccup demanded. "I will _not_ leave Astrid behind!"

Stoick closed his eyes. "It's hard, I know, but we can't win a head-on confrontation here. Dragons can carry hatchlings. We can try to get the riders out if the risk isn't too great. Valka, you have, what, six hundred dragons here?"

"They're not my _property_ to be thrown at an enemy!" she screeched.

Stoick nodded. "Good, then we're in agreement that we don't want to fight. Not here and now, at least. Your dragons will be cut down if they attack head-on."

The mountain shook. A ball of purple fire flew down the tunnel and shattered the ice that was blocking the entrance. Just as their sight cleared, the massive white form of the Dragon King exploded out of the water offshore. The great beast plowed through the army on the beach and slammed into the flank of the attacking Bewilderbeast. Deafening bellows from both of them filled the air and the whole world seemed to shake.

"Gods above," Stoick whispered. He forgot about him - her, whatever. "Toothless!" he shouted, "Tell the Dragon King to back off! We don't need a dead hero! Just swim away. If the gray one chases, then all the better to lure it away."

"I have to go help her!" Valka pleaded, twisting out of Stoick's grasp. He realized they were tangled too much to simply pull back, now that dragons from the sanctuary started to flock to their alpha's aid. Further escalation was inevitable.

Stoick pinched the bridge of his nose. "Do not leave me alone again," he pleaded.

Valka hopped up on her dragon and looked at him. "I won't. I promise. I still have our wedding ring."

Stoick grinned. "Then Gothi will place it in my hand so I can slide it onto your finger again."

Valka balked at that. She knew he was charging her to stay safe for his sake as well as hers. She and her dragon slowly turned, as though suddenly hesitant to leave, and took off.

Stoick, Hiccup, Gobber, and their dragons convened. "So, what's the plan, chief?" Gobber asked.

The chief thought for a moment and turned to the Night Fury. "Toothless, you need to be the battle master to these dragons here. _Make_ them listen to you. Show your teeth. Demand they obey you. You've had a lot of experience fighting Vikings and that's what they need to be effective and survive this day."

Toothless pantomimed reaching out with a front paw and stomping on the ground. Stoick grinned. "Yeah, just like The Trial, you cheeky bastard. I _still_ can't believe you did that."

Hiccup said, "But Dad, Toothless can't just demand they obey him! If they'll obey anyone it's-"

"The Dragon King, yes," Stoick interrupted. "Then it's their own wasted lives if they don't obey Toothless. If they won't flee like civilians or obey like soldiers, then they'll die like animals." Ignoring Hiccup's spluttering objections, Stoick turned to Toothless. "Remember three years ago, when Hiccup was taken captive on the Berserker ship? Remember how we had the dragons fly above the range of arrows to lob down a rain of fire?"

The dragon snorted and cave a curt nod. "Good. Nightmares, Nadders, Gronckles, anyone whose fire will carry the distance. Do what it takes to make these dragons follow you. Make it rain. Burn their ships and raze a curtain of smoke and mist. That will get our riders and their dragons out safely."

"But Dad," Hiccup pleaded, "There's _got_ to be a better way. War is what Drago wants. Let me go talk to him and-"

Stoick shoved Hiccup at his dragon. "Now go, Toothless! And take your rider with you!"

"No!" Hiccup insisted. "We can't just-"

"Go! Toothless knows what to do!"

"Dad-"

"Enough, Hiccup! Fly, now, and keep your feet off the ground."

"But-"

Stoick bridled at Hiccup and bellowed, "THAT'S AN _ORDER_ , SON!"

Hiccup cringed from his dragon's saddle. Toothless started to turn around, but Stoick stopped him with a stare, looking at Hiccup expectantly, waiting for a reply.

Finally, Hiccup ground out, "Yes sir," and Stoick dropped his challenging stare so they could go. The duo spun around and shot out of the cave and into the sky.

With that settled, Stoick clambered up onto Skullcrusher's back and Gobber worked his way onto Grump.

"I'm guessing that leaves us as the Valka protection team?" Gobber asked.

Stoick nodded. "Aye. Move out."

########

* * *

########

Eret, son of Eret, took a moment to contemplate his life. Here he was, the greatest dragon trapper alive, hunkered down below a Nadder's belly, next to a fiery shield-maiden who despised everything about him, probably because she was jealous that he was so much greater than her fishbone boyfriend.

He contemplated the dragon that stood above them. It was still saddled from when it was captured, thankfully. Astrid said Eret could ride in the saddle instead of dangling from below, "So Storm has her claws free for the enemy," as she said.

He contemplated the open sky above that he could see as he peeked out from under the dragon, through the opened top of the dome trap they were in. He had dangled from the flying dragon's talons before and it was absolutely terrifying. The very idea that he'd willingly go up in the air again, suspended only by a couple little wings and trust in a dragon, was so scary that he almost decided to jump out of the trap and go down fighting Drago's countless soldiers. Almost.

He contemplated the large army he could hear swarming past their trap, complete with catapults, ballistae, and bola launchers. Drago had a ways to go before he could plow across the world and take every fortified city he wanted, but the force was already quite substantial.

He contemplated how the ground shook as that white Bewilderbeast exploded out of the water and charged at Drago's beast. Its massive body blocked out the blue sky above for a moment and Eret may have wet himself a little.

"Just a little longer," Astrid said. With the ear-ringing clamor all around, they no longer needed to keep their voices down.

"That Bewilderbeast is gonna step on us!" he insisted.

"Don't worry. She knows we're here," Astrid calmly said.

"How would you know? And don't say-"

"Stormfly told me. Duh!"

Eret sighed. Massive Bewilderbeasts were trading blows, a large army was swarming the beach of some gods-forbidden iceberg mountain, and Drago's dragons were flying support for his soldiers… and their escape plan hinged entirely on a bloody crazy shield-maiden allegedly taking orders from a bloody dragon.

"Here they come," Astrid said.

The blue sky turned into a maelstrom of colors as hundreds of dragons flew directly above. Arrows flew up at them, but the native dragons were too high for that. A few nearby soldiers cried out in pain as those flying arrows came down on top of them.

"C'mon Toothless, you can do it," Astrid chanted.

"Do what?" Eret demanded.

"Keep the dragons focused on their task. He's not their alpha, and the two Bewilderbeasts are fighting for control of all the dragons here. Toothless can project his thoughts far and wide with those sensor lobes on his head, and he commands respect for having killed the Red Death. Hopefully, that's enough for him to exert some influence over all the dragons here as the rogue element."

Eret stared at the crazy girl. "I officially regret having asked."

The sky suddenly flared orange and red. Eret blinked rapidly, trying to let his eyes to adjust to the intense light. It was as if the sun itself was falling on top of them.

"Yes!" Astrid crowed. "We're gonna make it out of here!" She turned to Eret and said, "Take a deep breath and hold it."

"But why? What is going on?"

"Now! Deep breath if you want to live!"

Eret complied as the blazing haze came into focus. Hundreds of fireballs fell like molten hail. Shields, clothing, and catapults sizzled and smoldered. The din of shouting grew louder and screams of pain split the air. Some of a Monstrous Nightmare's burning gel splashed off the Nadder's scales. Smoke soon billowed into their trap, making breathing a difficult task. Eret pressed his face to the ground for any wisps of clean air he could find and took a deep breath.

The dragon lifted off of them and Astrid scurried to her feet, hauling Eret with her. They both scrambled onto the dragon's back with Eret seated behind Astrid. Through the burning smoke, he could see Astrid cinch a leather strap around her waist. She grabbed his hands and pulled them around her. With breathing being a luxury they could not afford, Eret recognized the wordless indication to hold on tight and complied.

The dragon's legs coiled up, as did Eret's internal organs. They sprang into the air and his stomach shot down to his feet, while his heart leaped into his throat. The wind rushed by in a deafening cacophony as those wings pulled them almost straight up into the air. His eyes burned too much to see anything. All he could do was hold on tight.

They cleared the smoke and Eret gasped for air. Looking around, he could see blue sky above, black smoke beneath, and dragons of every size, shape, and color swarming all around. A line of razor netting with iron weights flailed just off to the right and Eret felt something hard dig into his ribs.

"WAKE UP!" Astrid shouted at him. "Down! Lean forward!"

Eret almost lost his grip and his stomach as the dragon suddenly dropped like a rock. He clung tighter to Astrid, hanging on for dear life.

"Lean right!" Astrid shouted back at him. It wasn't until another tangle of razor netting flew just past the dragon's left wing that Eret's mind allowed him to process what she said and start to react. She elbowed him in the ribs again.

"Up!" she shouted. "Lean back! Right! Get down!"

The dragon flipped onto its side and stretched out a leg to deflect another projectile. Eret's mind flailed to keep up with processing Astrid's commands and forcing his shocked body to cooperate, all while attempting to come to terms with the chaos all around. They were upside-down for a moment and he could swear he felt the fletching of an arrow graze past his neck. He almost lost his grip, but they finally leveled out and Eret breathed a sigh of relief, which was cut off when they suddenly shot straight up.

Somehow, through the clattering chaos, he heard the twins gleefully shouting something about glorious explosions. Fishlegs squealed, "Nice moves, girl!" and Snotlout chanted, "Snotfang, Snotfang, oi oi oi!"

Finally, they leveled off, far above the maelstrom raging on the ground. In one swift move, Astrid unfastened the tethers holding her to her dragon, flipped around to face Eret, and punched him in the stomach.

"What was that for?!" Eret wheezed.

Astrid scowled at him. "When I say lean, you lean. When I say duck, you duck. By Odin's blind eye, I've never seen an oaf so slow as you."

"But-"

"I need instant cooperation."

"But-"

"When we're on Stormfly's back," she jabbed a thumb to her chest, "I am alpha. I am your master. You instantly obey my orders and you _never_ question me. Anything less and you may as well swan dive off my dragon right now!"

"But-"

"But what?!" Astrid shouted. Her face was red from the exertion of her outburst. "Speak, you simpering child!"

"But I-" Eret sputtered, gasping for breath, trying to wrestle his spinning mind into order. "You were… there was… And I lost grip… And…" He finally blurted out, "I'm trying!"

The dragon let out a trilling warble that seemed to calm Astrid down. "Alright," she spun around to face forward again and said more calmly, "I suppose flying can be intense at first. Just promise me you'll obey without question when I order you to lean or duck or something like that. No second-guessing me, just blind trust. Deal?"

Eret took in a few more rapid, deep breaths and said, "Deal. So, now what?"

He scanned the scenery below them. His eyes crossed as he tried to make sense of the scale of what he was seeing. A swarm of ants rushed across the beach. At least, that's what Drago's army looked like. At the edge of the battlefield, the two Bewilderbeasts had settled into ramming each other head-on, trying to impale the other with their massive tusks. Eret's mind whirled as he tried to contemplate how high they were. He had climbed mountains taller, but it was still so mind-boggling to see down in all directions around him, and impossible not to feel like he was falling to his death.

A Zippleback settled in just above Eret and one of its heads lowered down right next to them, revealing a sight that made Eret yelp and lean away.

"Oh, good, my snoogie bun made it out of there in one piece!" Ruffnut said in a raspy voice that she was probably trying to make sound smooth and seductive.

"Astrid, help!" Eret hissed.

The shield-maiden looked back and rolled her eyes. "I'm not the one with the wings. Try convincing Stormfly to help you out."

"What?" Eret batted at Ruffnut's lips, which were trying to reach to his face. "That doesn't even… how?"

"Try singing to her," Fishlegs casually suggested as his dragon fluttered up next to him. "Meatlug loves my singing and Nadders are known to be quite musical."

"Just smack the dragon and jerk her head to the side," Snotlout shouted as he flew in from below. "Works on Hookey"

Said dragon curled its head around and snapped at its rider.

"Just do as Hiccup does," Tuffnut said. "Also, Sis, really, you're kinda grossing me out with what you're trying to do to Eret."

"And what does Hiccup do?" Eret demanded.

"Oh, that's easy!" Ruffnut said. She ceased her attempts to kiss Eret… and her pelvic thrusts… and said in a nasally voice, "Hello, nice dragon. You can be my friend. My leg fell off. All of the dragons are my friends." She stretched a hand towards Eret and said, "Oh, and you gotta touch their snout, like this."

Eret leaned away from Ruffnut's fingertips.

"I don't sound like that," a nasally voice declared from behind. The Night Fury and its rider slid alongside. "And my leg didn't _fall_ off."

Eret suddenly stiffened and looked at the fishbone. Ruffnut managed to wrap a finger around his ear but he swatted it away.

"Oh, uhh, hi, Hiccup," he said timidly, eyeing the black dragon and its rows of teeth not far from Eret's head. "Sorry about, ya know, trying to shoot you down and… Uhhh, I mean-"

"Thank you," Hiccup said with the most sincere look. Eret's face went slack. "The dragons all filled me in. I owe you thanks for saving Astrid back there. If you didn't distract Drago from just taking Astrid and…" he faltered. "Thank you."

"Oh, don't listen to Storm," Astrid said in annoyance. "Eret saved me from nothing. Hey, Hiccup, want an extra passenger? He's even slower in the head than Bucket, I'll warn you."

"Astrid," Hiccup said testily, "how calm and collected were you on _your_ first flight?"

Astrid turned red. "That doesn't count!" She pointed an accusing finger at the black dragon. "You were a real jerk back then."

The dragon pulled its teeth into its gums and curled its lips up into… some sort of… draconic smile? Eret just knew he must have looked like a fish out of water.

Droning on, Hiccup said, "I guess you nailed the symmetry, here, Astrid. Toothless was rude and I was trying to smooth things out. Here, Stormfly is trying to smooth things out with Eret and you are-"

"Oh, whatever." she snapped. "So, where have you been, anyway?"

Hiccup shrugged and pointed. "Catching up with Mom."

"Wait, she's alive?!" Snotlout shouted out.

Eret followed Hiccup's gesture to the battling Bewilderbeasts and a rider-dragon duo trying to intervene. He recognized the dragon and the sort of armor the rider was wearing, that was made from discarded scales and carapace plates of various dragons.

"That's the dragon thief!" He squealed in surprise. "She's your _mother_?!" He always assumed the thief was a man, not a woman, and looked at Hiccup in a new light, as the son of the career-ruining dragon thief.

Hiccup grinned. "Now you know where I get my stubbornness."

He flicked something over his eyes, completely blocking his vision, and his dragon folded its wings and dove straight down into the billowing smoke below.

Eret stared down at them. "Are _all_ you dragon riders bat-shit crazy, or just the ones I've seen so far?"

Astrid actually chuckled at that. "Sit down, son. You haven't seen _anything_ yet."

* * *

 **A/N:**  
Thanks for reading! Thank you, Colorful Crayola, for being my beta buddy.

Dragonrider's Fury, glad you saw Hiccup's snarkiness rubbing off on Toothless. It's a bit of a two-way street.

L'assassin orange, I'm relieved that the underlying vibe in Hiccup's dream didn't go unnoticed. I dunno why, but dreams are some of the most enjoyable bits to write for me.

Toothlessgolfer, Grimmel… Grimmel… *does a Google search*. Oh, him, right. Now I look forward to seeing the 3rd movie even more. Oh, and how did you possibly guess that Dancing and Dreaming was coming up? :P No unicorns trotting across a rainbow bridge here, but I suspect that's probably a relief to hear.


	15. Clashed

**Clashed**

Everything was chaos. Pure, utter chaos… to the eyes of most people flying above the battlefield. Stoick, though, watched like a hawk from Skullcrusher's back, taking stock of the situation, deciding on a battle plan. His trained eyes found patterns in the movements of Drago's soldiers, the placement of their heavy artillery gave away their intended targets, and even the frantic maelstrom of dragons in the sky gave clues as to which ones would be hostile or were too distracted to even notice a Rumblehorn and his rider.

All of the riders had made it to safety. After a brief back-and-forth with Hiccup and Astrid, they dispersed, and Stoick was content to let them do their thing. He had given Astrid her orders and she would keep the riders in line. Drago's soldiers made a massive mistake by committing so fully to their assault on the beach of this small island. Burning their unprotected ships would cripple their ability to continue their campaign elsewhere for the immediate future. Perhaps, after a week or so, when hunger makes them desperate, they would surrender peacefully and their homelands would pay for their safe return.

Stoick watched as Hiccup and Toothless soared high up in the sky. At the peak of their climb, they slid back and flipped around to dive down and blast a catapult to splinters, using the shockwave to immediately ascend again almost as fast as they dove. For almost fifteen years, that dragon was the bane of existence, blasting catapults and watchtowers to splinters, too fast and invisible against the night sky to stop. Stoick's orders - to the dragon as his rider wouldn't like it - were to destroy the catapults, ballistae, and net launchers on the beach. Though it presented more risk to Hiccup than simply flying away, it was the best compromise to keep him safe, as he would otherwise defy all orders by landing on the beach to try something very… rash.

What really worried Stoick was Valka. She was flitting around on Cloudjumper's back without a saddle or even a rope to hang on to, but that was the least of his concerns. The duo was trying to intervene between the battling Bewilderbeasts, but they were nothing more than a minnow that was trying to break up a fight between two whales. It was a futile effort. The Bewilderbeasts had locked tusks, each trying to ram the other back, and it appeared nothing would dissuade them.

The white one that Valka called the Dragon King had her tail to the mountain with the gray one trying to shove her up the incline. The Bewilderbeasts were heavily armored from above, so they were naturally trying to get in from below.

"Well, Skull, any ideas on how to help Val?" Stoick casually asked his dragon, who responded with a snort and a shake of his head. "I guess we may as well offer some fire support. Take us in and shove a fireball right up its arse. And I mean that quite literally."

He leaned as his dragon banked around, then dove down. As they flew under the tail of Drago's Bewilderbeast, Stoick could hear his dragon take in a deep breath of air to prepare a blast of fire. They swooped up between the sea dragon's haunches and Skullcrusher carried out his instruction to the letter.

The fireball struck and the Bewilderbeast lurched backward. Skullcrusher swooped between the hind legs and shot out the right side. Looking back, Stoick could see Dragon King take advantage of the opportunity to shove her opponent to the side. She continued that motion and spun her whole body around to smash her tail into her opponent's face. It hardly phased the massive beast though.

"Good!" Stoick shouted at the Dragon King. "Now, into the water with you. He'll chase you no doubt. Lead him away."

His words were unheeded as the two Bewilderbeasts settled back into ramming each other and trying to twist around the other's tusks.

Valka joined up with Stoick and shouted, "This is terrible! They're both in a blind rage, Stoick. What can we do?!"

"I think we both know the answer to that one," he said. "Make sure the right one wins."

"No! We can't just kill the other Bewilderbeast. There must be a better way!"

"VALKA!" Stoick bellowed. "This is _war_! Either your Bewilderbeast kills Drago's or his kills yours, and that will determine if _all_ these dragons become our friends or enemies. Let's flame his eyes. Blind him. Kill him."

Valka shook her head. She stared at something past Stoick and darted away. Down below, the two Bewilderbeasts were up on their hind legs, trying to get under each other to strike at the unarmored belly. They shoved into each other in an awkward dance against the base of the mountain until they ended up back on all fours, ramming into each other.

Stoick groaned. "Skull, just us, then. Fire, eyes, now."

His eyes caught something off to the side. He recognized the black-cloaked figure of Drago standing off aside from the bulk of the army. Sprawled out in front of him, on her back, was Valka! She was actually trying to take him on alone? Focusing on Drago actually made sense; if he somehow controlled the Bewilderbeast that could control the dragons, then taking him out was the crux of the whole battle. A good idea, but that didn't make her any less crazy!

"Never mind!" He shouted and pointed to Valka. "Quickly, Skullcrusher, go!"

The dragon immediately complied. He folded his wings and dove down. They angled in to strike Drago, but as they closed in, something wrapped around the dragon's wings. It brought them in for a rough landing, but they were close enough that a leap from his dragon's back sent Stoick flying into Drago's side, knocking him flat on his back. Stoick quickly cut the rope that bound his dragon, thanking the gods that it was only rope bolas and not razor netting.

As Drago scrambled back to his feet, Stoick bent over and reached out a hand to help Valka up.

"Thank you," she said meekly.

Stoick smiled. "For you, my dear," he said softly, "anything." He gave her a stern look and said, "Val, you and Cloud know what to do." Valka slumped. "Drago's mine, dear. You get to fry the bigger fish."

She was just like Hiccup and wanted to find a nonviolent solution, and Stoick could see the battle raging in her head. It ended in an instant and she snatched a knife from a sheath on her hip and quickly cut through some ropes that had ensnared Cloudjumper and they took off.

"YOU!" Drago sneered as he advanced on Stoick. Some of his soldiers from the fray started to move in to assist him but he waved them off in irritation. This was personal.

Stoick likewise said to Skullcrusher, "He's mine." The dragon whined. "I know you lost your first rider to steel, but that won't happen today, I promise you that."

Skullcrusher backed off and growled, eyes on the move for anyone who would interfere.

Stoick glared at Drago. It was six years ago that he met this monster. The chiefs from most of the nearby islands in the Archipelago were gathered in the longhouse on the Berserker's island for an intertribal Thing to hash out a peace treaty and discuss the increasing intensity of the dragon raids. Stoick normally would have brought his son along, but the boy developed a fever and had to stay home.

As they were wrapping things up, in walked a strange man from a strange land, covered in scars and draped in a cloak of dragonskin. He carried no weapon and spoke softly, saying that he, Drago Bludvist, was a man of the people, and wanted to free mankind from the tyranny of dragons. He claimed that he alone could control the dragons and he alone could keep them safe. There was a catch, of course. They would need to bow down and pledge their allegiance to him.

Everyone laughed until he wrapped himself in his cloak and the roof suddenly burst into flames, and from it, armored dragons descended, burning the hall to the ground. Only Stoick and his good friend, Oswald the Agreeable, managed to escape through the fire and smoke to see the next day.

Stoick knew why Drago had returned and said, "The last thing I heard from you was, 'See how well you do without me!'" He gestured to the dragons flying above. "Until you showed your ugly face today, I'd say we've been doing quite well." Stoick made a shooing motion with his hand. "You may leave, now, and take your Bewilderbeast with you."

Drago roared and rushed at Stoick, swinging his bullhook. Stoick deflected the attack with his shield.

"I watched you _burn_!" Drago bellowed as he swung again.

Stoick met it with his sword and pressed into Drago's space, nose to nose, and shouted, "It takes more than a little fire to kill me!"

Back and forth, they rushed at each other with murderous intent. Stoick noticed that his adversary wasn't even using his left hand, leaving it shrouded in his cloak. Concerned that it was holding a blade or some other hidden threat, he managed to knock Drago's bullhook aside enough to allow for a powerful sideways slash.

The blade struck wood; Stoick could tell from the sound. Drago thrust his bullhook with his other hand and Stoick met it with his shield as he charged into Drago. Stoick jerked his sword back but it didn't budge for how tightly it was held to the hidden arm, apparently a wooden prosthetic. He jerked back even harder, pulling with all his strength, and a loud, grinding pop could be heard as the sword came free, along with the entire prosthetic arm and the cloak that covered it. The cloak fluttered as the whole mess fell to the ground, revealing that his sword struck so hard that it tore through a sheet of iron plate mail before finding the wood beneath.

Stoick frowned at the now useless sword. Drago bellowed and charged, bullhook swinging. Stoick used his shield again and pulled his hand ax from his belt with his main hand. They violently clashed, kicking, swinging, head-butting, nothing held back.

In the heat of it all, Stoick lost his ax and they ended up both grabbing the shaft of the bullhook, fighting for control of the weapon, which prompted even more head-butting and stomping, each man trying to hit a soft spot on his opponent.

The shaft of the bullhook snapped under the strain and both combatants stumbled back a step. Stoick heard a distinctive roar pierce the air and saw the gray Bewilderbeast shooting a stream of misty ice at Cloudjumper. It clung to the dragon's tail and Stoick instantly knew that they were in trouble.

He flung his half of the bullhook at Drago as a diversion and leaped onto Skullcrusher's back. As they shot into the sky, he shouted over his shoulder, "Stay put! I'll kill you later!"

########

* * *

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"Alright, let's do it again!" Hiccup shouted to his dragon.

Toothless flapped his wings hard to gain altitude. His sharp eyes spotted their target, a ballista, catapult, and net flinger all sitting next to each other. Hiccup flipped down the leather flap on his helmet that completely blocked the eye slit, protecting him against the debris-filled gale-force winds but also effectively blinding himself. Toothless more than made up for that by projecting his sight through eyes protected by his transparent inner eyelids, the feelings in his wings and tail, and a whole array of sensory information for his rider.

The dragon folded his wings and the piercing shriek of a Night Fury on a fire run sounded out. He nearly instantly communicated with the other dragons to determine which patches of the sky they found to be safest from arrows, ballista bolts, and airborne boulders from below. The duo worked in unison to dive through the curtain of smoke and the dragon took aim for his shot. Hiccup could feel the wide neck between his legs expand as Toothless formed the fireball and prepared to ignite and send it off.

Pop!

Whish!

 **BOOM!**

Toothless was already shooting back up, riding the updraft from his fireball's shockwave. Hiccup flipped up the visor on his helmet and craned his neck to see that the blast struck true and the artillery pieces were blown apart. Through the circular disruption the shockwave formed in the smoke, he could also see prone bodies and blood splatters radiating out from the impact point. With the clamor of the battle raging on, they had absolutely no warning at all to take cover.

He wanted to scream. He wanted to cry. However, all he could do was slowly shake his head in silence.

Down below, the combating forces were far too tightly woven to unravel. The two Bewilderbeasts, in all their massive majesty, had settled into ramming into each other in a contest of strength, slamming into the outer walls of Dragon Sanctuary and careening through the army below. Large chunks of ice broke loose and tumbled down. Drago's army was a colony of ants, pulsating in tempo with the clashes of the Bewilderbeasts as they tried to see through the smoke and avoid getting stepped on or crushed by flying debris.

Dragons filled the sky, both from the sanctuary and from Drago's ships. The Bewilderbeasts were fighting each other for control over them all. Dragon King normally wouldn't want to exert direct control over the dragons, but she decided that was preferable to allowing the other Bewilderbeast to claim their minds. Neither was making any progress as they were too busy fighting each other to do anything more than cause chaos and confusion.

After the initial rain of fire to raise the curtain of smoke below, Toothless lost whatever sway he had obtained in convincing the dragons to follow his instructions. Fortunately, the dragons weren't fighting each other that much. Unfortunately, they were struggling to maintain control of their own minds.

Some dragons dove down into the army, seeing them as salvation rather than an enemy, as they knew that contact with a human would protect them from the Bewilderbeasts warring for control over them. However, Drago's soldiers were all clamoring for blood and that did not end well for a single dragon. It also didn't end well for some of the soldiers who attacked the dragons.

The entire ground was covered in a layer of death that made Hiccup cry and wail in outrage.

Toothless gave a comforting warble. _{Do not despair, my precious Firefly. I know you hate this, but they would kill us if we don't kill them first.}_

Hiccup slumped against his dragon's back. He weakly beat against the back of the broad neck in frustration.

 _{I'm sorry to upset you.}_ Toothless let out a sad croon. _{I express only what is logical, and you know it. You love your sire and dam. You love the land-striders and dragons from your nest. You do not love these hostile land-striders who seek to kill them. Firefly, your ways often appear as madness in my eyes, but I cannot argue against the impossible feats you've accomplished. You transform sworn enemies into loyal allies and snuff out fiery retribution with a quiet word and a stare. You are an enigma to me, but this has escalated far beyond the powers of any negotiation.}_

Hiccup shouted in frustration, "This is madness! We need time! We need space! We need..." he stopped, realizing his next words would only lead to ruination.

Still, Toothless knew where he was going with that. _{If you tell me to take us away from all of this, I will without hesitation, my precious Firefly. I could make the other dragons from our nest follow regardless of what their riders say. We have the power to save our own right now, you need only give the command.}_

Hiccup shook his head. "No. No, that… I can't _leave_ all of them!"

 _{Then we shall continue to provide support from above. Stalwart told me to keep you safe and that's what I plan to do.}_

"You're gonna just blindly do what Dad says?"

Toothless snorted. _{He has earned my respect as a clear-thinking land-strider who loves you as much as I do. We both know that he is the most qualified to make decisions in this situation. I cannot argue with his reasoning that land-striders who kill without reason cannot be reasoned with.}_

"No!" Hiccup snapped. "There must be a better way! I will _not_ accept this! We cannot bring peace by killing anyone who doesn't like us!"

 _{Would you be content to watch your dam and your sire die, knowing that we did not kill the land-striders who would kill them?}_

"Toothless…" Hiccup whined. He looked down at the maelstrom below. "We can't just fly up here forever and we're running out of valid targets down there."

 _{I can fly all day and I see many valid targets on the ground, and they all want to kill us.}_

"No! I won't… I can't…"

Toothless crooned. _{I understand. You are my Firefly, my light in the darkness. My wings are yours. My fire is yours. I am yours.}_

Hiccup grimaced. Such power over another made him itch. It was a hot potato that he wanted to toss to someone else because it was burning him. Still, despite that, Toothless felt his rider's heart swell with love for him.

Hiccup leaned down against the back of his dragon's neck and mumbled, "We have to do _something_!"

His dragon groaned sympathetically as they flew high above the battle. _{I'm out of ideas, Firefly. The dragons cannot listen to me with those two great sea dragons fighting back and forth for control of their minds.}_

"There's gotta be something more we can do!" Hiccup hissed to himself. "Think, Hiccup, think. Bud, are there any dragons who seem to be in control of themselves? Any anomalies?"

 _{Aside from those who carry a rider, no. For all the others, their passive hum is a sea of frustration and anger. They cannot fight the influence of the great sea dragons.}_

Hiccup scanned the beach and an idea suddenly sprang to mind. "That's it!" He snapped his fingers. "Bud, Drago's Bewilderbeast is trying to control the dragons, and Drago controls his Bewilderbeast. If we-"

 _{I really don't like where this is going.}_

"You always say that," he said dismissively.

Down below, a large man with long black hair stood aside from the fighting force. He was as massive as Stoick and seemed to be… roaring… at the hostile Bewilderbeast. That _must_ be Drago. Hiccup was surprised to see his father and Skullcrusher shooting away from Drago until he saw that Cloudjumper was floundering with his tail encased in ice from the Bewilderbeast. Another dragon knocked Valka off of Cloudjumper, but Stoick managed to snatch her and save her from falling to her death.

Turning back to Drago, Hiccup could see the man smirking at him. His right hand held a bullhook, and his entire left arm was missing. Since Hiccup didn't see any puddles of blood nearby, he assumed this must have been an old injury, and the stump on his left leg twitched.

Toothless looked back at his rider with narrowed eyes. _{There is absolutely no way I'm taking you down there. Stalwart said to keep you safe and safe is nowhere on the ground.}_

"Don't do this to me, Bud," Hiccup said testily. "We can end this war right now if we talk some sense into him. He commands the Bewilderbeast, and if I can get him to see that-"

Toothless growled. _{He will kill you! This assault is not the action of one who is anything less than fully committed.}_

Hiccup stared sadly at his dragon, who whined under the pressure. "Bud, I have to try. This is what I'm good at and you know it."

 _{It doesn't matter how good you are at convincing others to see things your way when he kills you!}_

"Toothless, would you be content to lose all these dragons just to keep _me_ safe? Would you see Drago and his Bewilderbeast enthrall thousands of dragons and use them as fodder, and be happy because you kept me out of it?"

Hiccup thought he was being very clever, using Toothless' own logic to prove a point.

The Night Fury gave a defiant snarl and snapped his head back to look at his rider. _{Without a second thought, yes! I would happily watch this entire world burn if it means my Firefly remains alive and well.}_

Then again, maybe it wasn't so clever after all.

Hiccup slumped. "I don't think I would want to live with the knowledge that I could have saved so many lives, but didn't."

The dragon wilted under his rider's imploring gaze and he folded his wings in. _{If that land-strider so much as twitches, I'm snatching you up and we're flying out of here without even looking back. That is my condition for landing.}_

Hiccup tucked himself tight to his dragon's back and said, "Deal!" and the duo plummeted down.

* * *

 **A/N:**  
Thanks for reading and thank you Colorful Crayola for being my beta buddy!

Toothlessgolfer, man, if I was a little laxer on canon, I would totally have 'em all free the riders and flee to Berk. Hiccup and Toothless could get there lickety-split and warn everyone to mount up and prepare for an invasion. Hey, why not alert some of their neighboring tribes, too? Then, Drago would have a thousand dragons with riders to deal with. Good luck with that!

L'assassin orange, thanks for the feedback! I initially struggled in putting the dancing and singing scene into words, but I'm glad ya liked it.

Dragonrider's Fury, you just made my day! It felt like hammering a square peg into a round hole, but I saw that sarcastic Hiccup reenactment - "My leg fell off" - on one of those HTTYD crack videos and I just _had_ to shove it in somewhere.


	16. Confounded

**Confounded**

Hiccup grunted as his dragon snapped his wings out from a fast plummet. The hard landing knocked the wind out of his lungs, but he knew better than to complain about the rough treatment. Toothless never liked seeing his rider take a risk, but he never could say no. Hiccup has taken many chances in the past, acting on a gut feeling, doing what others deemed insane because "it just felt right." Ending a fight with an olive branch by negotiating for a peaceful resolution when everyone else would sooner just start swinging axes was something he was good at. It was his calling.

He slid down to the ground. A warning bark made him realize his hand had drifted off of Toothless for a moment and he placed his palm firmly on his dragon's snout. The dragon had once explained that they always saw a human's projected thoughts, even just the passive hum of primal emotions, to be very chaotic. Dragons were masters of perfect memories and logic, but they had no imagination, and that somehow scrambled the mind control of the Red Death and these Bewilderbeasts.

Hiccup yanked off his helmet and shouted to Drago, "Stop!" He took a step closer but kept a comfortable gap. The warlord was as massive as Stoick, and even though he was missing an arm - lying on the ground with Stoick's sword embedded in it - Hiccup didn't want to push his luck.

Drago chuckled at the boy through a lopsided sneer. " _This_ is the great 'Dragon master'? The son of Stoick the vast?" he scowled and narrowed his eyes. "What _shame_ he must feel!"

Hiccup scowled. "I am _nobody's_ master. I can be a dragon's friend. I can be their rider. I can be their teacher. But I have never been their master." He was tempted to say that he could be their voice, but Stormfly had told him that Drago wasn't a dragon whisperer and he didn't want to push his luck.

A few hundred feet away, the two Bewilderbeasts were still fighting it out. Dragon King had forced the gray Bewilderbeast up the sloped base of the mountain, tusks locked. In a jaw-dropping display of raw strength, Dragon King lifted her adversary up off the ground - with her face! - and shoved him away to fall down on his back. The swarm of soldiers pulsated away from the impact zone. Not all of them cleared it.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Dragon King spun around and leaped down with a speed that defied her gargantuan size, but the gray Bewilderbeast had already rolled onto all fours again to meet her charge, crushing more soldiers in the process.

Drago and Toothless both roared at the scene, Drago because he almost lost his champion, and Toothless because Dragon King wasted time and didn't go straight for the kill. Hiccup could feel the raw emotions boiling off his dragon, the lust to kill and be done with all of this.

"All of this loss," Hiccup said sadly, "and for what? This is madness, Drago! Nothing is worth this sort of senseless death and destruction. Dragons are kind, amazing creatures that can bring people together-"

"Or tear them apart," Drago irritably said, gesturing to the stump on his left shoulder. He started pacing around Hiccup. Toothless growled warningly, but Hiccup waved him off. "I know what it is to live in fear. To see my village-"

Hiccup recalled his dream and decided to take a stab. "Burned, yes." he interrupted. "You lost everything. Your arm, your family, your friends, your whole tribe, and that's sad, it truly-"

A hand shot forth and strong fingers wrapped around Hiccup's slender neck. Toothless snarled venomously.

"Not smart," Hiccup wheezed out.

Drago dropped him and continued pacing around, asking, "Who told you that?"

Hiccup rubbed feeling back into his throat. "It doesn't matter. You suffered. So sorry. Join the guild, we sell tunics."

"You know nothing!" Drago shouted. "I rose above the fear of dragons and liberate the people of this world."

"I too rose above my fears of dragons," Hiccup said, "and we live in peace."

"YOU BOWED TO THEM!" Drago bellowed, looming over Hiccup. "You insult those they killed!"

Hiccup took a step back and inhaled deeply. He softly said, "Several thousand people disagree with you on that. We have seen unprecedented prosperity, both humans and dragon. I made our future bright. You let your heart grow dark."

To his surprise, Drago actually laughed at that, cruelly, sinisterly. "Maybe you're right. If you're done, _boy_." He turned to walk away.

"Why a _dragon_ army?" Hiccup demanded. "You lost everything to dragons, but now you surround yourself with them."

Drago looked over his shoulder. "Well, you need dragons to conquer other dragons."

"Or maybe," Hiccup said, "you need dragons to conquer people, to control those who follow you, and to get rid of those who won't."

Drago turned to face Hiccup and rolled his eyes. "Clever boy."

"The world wants peace, and we have the answer, back on Berk," Hiccup said. "Just let me show you-"

"No! Let _me_ show _you!_ "

Drago shoved Hiccup away and grabbed his bullhook - the shaft of which appeared to have been broken in half - and swung it in circles above his head, bellowing out a guttural roar. For an instant, all time appeared to have frozen. Ice shot through Hiccup's core. He had a dreadful feeling that something terrible was about to happen.

The gray Bewilderbeast seemed to gain a second wind. He shoved Dragon King's head up and instantly pressed forward, slamming his face into the bottom of her neck, driving her back. She clawed at him, struggling to keep her balance, to get her head down again where she would be less vulnerable.

It was a futile attempt. She lost her balance and fell onto her back. The gray Bewilderbeast didn't waste an instant as he immediately aligned himself and lunged forward, driving his massive tusks through her side. He rose up on his haunches, with Dragon King impaled above him, and rammed her against the base of the mountain with such force that the entire island trembled.

The air was rent with a deafeningly terrible roar. Dragon King writhed around as she was held there, pinned up against the side of the mountain. Rivers of blood poured out of her twin wounds, down to her dorsal fin, and cascaded to the ground. When the gray Bewilderbeast hopped back to remove his tusks, Dragon King slumped down bonelessly in a pool of her own blood. Above her belly, two crimson holes marked the mountainside, cracks radiating outward.

Everything went silent. All motion ceased. Everyone froze and could only watch, dragons and humans alike. It was as if the entire world had gasped in horror at what just transpired.

The silence was shattered by a landslide as the entire side of the icy mountain sheared off and crashed down on the prone sea dragon, breaking up into jagged boulders on impact.

Hiccup felt his heart throb. His lungs burned. His knees felt weak. His wrists itched. His vision swam with red.

He lost control.

"I'LL KILL YOU!" he shouted as he leaped at Drago. "I'LL CUT OUT YOUR HEART AND EAT IT!" He pulled out his belt knife and went for the throat, but Drago plucked the boy off like a fly and tossed him aside. Hiccup rushed to his feet and charged again, but Drago kicked him to the ground. He stumbled to his feet again, heedless that he lost his weapon, and charged. Drago slammed his forehead into Hiccup's. While Hiccup was stumbling backward, he felt a tug on his left leg and saw a glimpse of his prosthetic foot just as it smashed into the side of his face.

Hiccup's vision went blurry. He could smell and taste his own blood. He looked up to see Toothless lunge at Drago, but something descended from the sky and slammed him aside. It was only now that he realized how hopeless the situation had become. Drago's Bewilderbeast, and by extension, Drago, controlled all the dragons. Toothless was powerful, but he couldn't fight an entire army.

Hiccup had no strength left when Drago reached down to pick him up by the neck. He hung there like a limp sack of potatoes, unashamedly crying, his anger at Drago and his cursed Bewilderbeast turning to remorse.

"Now," Drago mused, "What shall I do with a broken boy and his broken dreams?"

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Astrid leaned left as her dragon dropped a wing to turn. She gave a satisfied grunt at Eret for keeping up… this time. She would never say it aloud, but he was a fast learner with a sharp mind.

Things were going as well as one could expect in a frantic fight for survival. The battling Bewilderbeasts had scattered Drago's army all over the island as they all fled for their lives. None of the riders or their dragons died yet, which was a good sign. Some of the native dragons were taken down by the soldiers, though. Those that were not brutally killed were hogtied, which provoked more dragons to come to the rescue, which led to more kills and captures. Even though they were spread out so much, they were a coordinated and capable force.

All those concerns were immediately snuffed when she spotted Hiccup on the ground, by the shore. Drago was pacing around him as they seemed to be deep in discussion with Toothless growling nearby.

"Thor's hammer!" Astrid shrieked. "What is Hiccup doing down there?!"

Stormfly chittered in amusement. _{I think you know the answer to that question. He is doing what Firefly always does. Should we intervene, Zealot?}_

Astrid still hadn't gotten used to her "dragon name" of Zealot, as she started hearing dragons hardly a year ago. Apparently, Toothless came up with that name, way back when Astrid discovered him in the cove. She had confronted Hiccup about it, almost died, ran off, and was snatched up for an impromptu flight to visit the Red Death's nest and back.

Toothless was actually impressed with Astrid's drive to protect what she thought was right. She went from being Hiccup's greatest threat to his greatest ally in the span of one hectic flight, not because of any change in life goals or ideals, but simply because she developed a better understanding of the enemy. Stormfly adopted that name for her rider and Astrid had to begrudgingly acknowledge that it made sense, no matter what the other riders said about it.

Eret followed her gaze and automatically leaned with her as they changed course. Already, a battle plan was forming in her mind. Every human and dragon nearby was assessed, every weapon noted, every slippery spot on the ground and potential obstacle stored in her mind for reference.

She would dive in there and snatch Hiccup away to safety. She was betrothed to him, after all, and she would not allow anyone or anything to harm him. Sure, he was verifiably insane and the way he did things constantly drove her crazy, but she loved him. That didn't mean she wouldn't yank off his prosthetic leg and use it to beat some sense into-

"Agh!" Astrid grunted as her dragon suddenly shuttered and fluttered in the air. A deafening roar from behind made her whip her head around to see what the commotion was all about.

Her jaw dropped. The white Bewilderbeast, or Dragon King as Hiccup called her, was suspended upside-down above the ground, pinned to the side of the mountain by the gray Bewilderbeast's tusks. Time seemed to slow to a crawl, everything appeared to move in slow motion. The gray Bewilderbeast pulled back, allowing Dragon King to fall to the ground, blood gushing out of the twin wounds on either side. The entire side of the mountain sheared off in a giant slab of ice and stone that broke upon her dying body, almost entirely burying her.

The silence broke. If the screeching and roaring of the thousand dragons all around wasn't loud already, they dug deep and bellowed all the more.

"Riders," Astrid shouted, "Regroup on me!" Through the contact of her hands on Stormfly's neck, thanks to Hiccup's ingenious design of mittens with the palms cut out, Astrid heard her dragon relaying the order to the others.

"Hey, Astrid," Eret said from behind her, "is that Nightmare really… cawing like… a crow or something?"

"You'll just have to accept this and move on," Fishlegs nervously said.

Snotlout casually said, "Yeah, Hookey does that when he's in a panic and can't come to terms with what he's seeing. Kinda like how some people cluck like a chicken when scared."

Eret gave him an incredulous look. "That is the most ridiculous-"

"BAH-GAWK!" Tuffnut crowed in panic, frantically pointing off to the side and down.

Unlike Eret, Astrid was used to it and followed the point to see a strange dragon shooting straight at them. "Left! Down!" she called out and Eret snapped to attention and leaned.

The dragon swooped just over her head, barely missing her thanks to a quick dive from Stormfly. It looked like a Nadder in size and proportions, but with a single tailfin like a Monstrous Nightmare and a fin on its head, arrayed like the horns on the back of a Nadder's head. The most attention-grabbing feature of the dragon, though, was the way its scales shifted in color, pulsating between hues of red and orange.

"Hey, Storm, what's going on?" she asked her dragon.

 _{Zealot, this dragon is begging to have a rider. With only one sea dragon, she can already feel the pressure on her mind. She's desperate enough to accept a rider to avoid the mind snare.}_

"A Hobblegrunt," Eret breathed in disbelief. "Do you know how hard those things are to catch? Sly foxes, all of them!"

Astrid looked over at the Hobblegrunt and made a snap decision to help the dragon out. "Think you can handle yourself alone on Stormfly?" she asked Eret.

Eret snapped his attention to her, away from the carnage below that seemed to draw his eyes. "Wha- Uhhh, I… Why?"

The shieldmaiden's only response was to flip down the side of her dragon, loop an arm around the flared talons, and drop down to land on the Hobblegrunt's back. Almost instantly, as she seated herself and pressed her hands against the back of the dragon's head, things calmed down. The scales turned to a slower pattern of blues and greens, much to Astrid's fascination. She had never seen a dragon like this before.

 _{Thank you, Zealot! Thank you! I will keep you safe. You keep me safe. Keep my mind mine. I thank you! You are an amazing land-strider! Thank you, Stormfly, for sharing your rider!}_

The dragon kept going on like that. Astrid smiled and gave her a pat. "Don't worry, girl, you'll be fine." She leaned as the group turned towards the beach. "In return, you're going to help me rescue Hiccup. Erm, Firefly as you dragons call him. Do we have a deal?"

 _{Yes! Good deal! I am fast and agile. My fire burns hot.}_

Looking up at the rest of her group, Astrid said, "Storm, Hookfang, BB, you guys clear the way."

"Hello," Snotlout said in annoyance, "us riders are here, too."

Tuffnut chimed in, "Yeah, how come you boss around our dragons more than us riders?"

"Don't encourage her!" Fishlegs snapped at him. "Do you want her to go back to telling you when you can eat, sleep, and breathe?"

The male twin scratched his head. "Yeah. I get it mixed around, sometimes."

Astrid crossed her arms. "I give orders to the dragons because _they_ are dependable."

"Hey!" Ruffnut shouted, "I resemble that remark!"

Astrid turned to Fishlegs and his dragon. "And Meatlug, you snatch up Hiccup. Do not take no for an answer. Just down, grab, and up and away."

Fishlegs asked, "But what if Hiccup has a plan… to…"

He faded off and cringed under Astrid's withering glare.

"Pluck and run, got it," he said meekly.

"Good!" Astrid said. "Now let's go rescue my fia-AGH!"

Her Hobblegrunt suddenly jerked to the side and it was a frantic scramble to hold on. Dragons started diving at them from all angles. Astrid didn't have any saddle to hold onto, not even a rope, but the dragon's neck was slender enough to grip very effectively with her thighs and she could wrap her arms all the way around to lock her fingers if flying got too rough.

"What's going on?" Astrid demanded. These dragons didn't have iron collars on their necks, so they couldn't be Drago's.

 _{They saw how you saved me, Zealot. You have a chaotic mind. You break the mind snare. They want you for themselves, or any land-strider. I don't want to lose you. I don't like being controlled.}_

They bobbed and weaved through the tangle of wings and fangs. With BB trailing a plume of explosive gas and lighting it up behind them, the assault lightened. Finally, the assaulting force thinned out and they were in the clear for the most part. It was a relief that they weren't attacking anymore, but that only meant that Drago's Bewilderbeast had enthralled the poor things.

It was then that she saw Hiccup down on the beach. He was missing his prosthetic leg and Drago was holding him up by the neck in a one-handed stranglehold. Toothless was trying to intervene, but enthralled dragons swarmed him.

Astrid's blood boiled. "Stormfly, we gotta turn around! Hiccup needs us _now_!"

The Hobblegrunt craned her head around to give an apologetic croon. _{I'm sorry, Zealot, but Stormfly says we cannot go back. The closer we are to Firefly, the more aggressive these dragons become.}_

"Stormfly," she said testily, "we are _not_ abandoning Hiccup."

 _{Stormfly says she is very sorry. She is very scared. She is afraid to turn around. She may lose her rider and then lose her mind. You must understand, Zealot, how maddening it is to lose one's mind.}_

"What's wrong?" Eret asked, eyes darting about in worry.

"Stormfly!" Astrid shouted. "Turn back _now_! That's an _order_!"

For a moment, the dragons all flew in silence. Astrid was aware of the other riders voicing similar complaints, but she had ears only for her dragon and this Hobblegrunt.

 _{Stormfly says she is very sorry.}_

Astrid shouted in anger. She tried to turn her Hobblegrunt around. She leaned and tilted, but their course remained unchanged. She even tried poking at the dragon's throat and twisted the fin on her head, just to get _any_ response at all, but the dragon endured it all in stoic silence.

She would not, _could_ not accept this! An idea popped into her mind. It was reckless. It was crazy. It was something Hiccup would do!

Astrid stood and leaped off the Hobblegrunt towards Stormfly. The gap was too great, though. She would never make it. However, as anticipated, Stormfly noticed with an alarmed squawk and dropped down towards her rider. Astrid grabbed the leg and hauled herself up into the saddle.

The Hobblegrunt fluttered in a panic. Astrid projected a sympathetic apology to the dragon. It was nothing personal. She would not allow herself to be carried away from Hiccup.

The panicking dragon swooped over and tried to pluck up Astrid out of sheer desperation. Astrid ducked but Eret did not. He was snatched away in an instant as the dragon fell under the Bewilderbeast's control. Touching the dragon's talons wasn't enough to free her from the mind snare, though; he would have to touch a sensitive spot, like the neck or shoulders

Astrid didn't care! Her betrothed was in mortal danger. "Stormfly," she hissed in a dangerous voice, "we will _not_ abandon HIccup. You _will_ turn around _now_!"

 _{I cannot go back, Zealot. I will lose you and then I will lose my mind. There is nothing we can do. I'm sorry.}_

"Don't tell me you're sorry!" Astrid snapped. "Turn! Around! _Now_!"

Stormfly finally relented and turned back towards Hiccup and Drago. Off to the side, she could see Eret had managed to free himself from the Hobblegrunt's grasp and climbed up to sit on her back. Her cooler colors seemed to indicate that she was in control of her own mind once again.

"How did..." Fishlegs started saying. "Hey! Are those what I think they are?!"

Astrid looked closer and noticed that Eret was holding a dragon trapper's most useful tool, casually called "Dragon Claws". They were simple iron hooks with a sharpened point on one end and a handle on the other. A dragon trapper would be able to dig the claw in to get a good grip on a dragon, which was what seemed to have actually saved Eret's life.

"I gotcha, girl!" Eret crowed. "You fly straight for me and I'll stop poking ya. Deal? Good dragon!"

Astrid turned to face forward again, but her heart sank. She couldn't see Hiccup. She couldn't see Drago. All she could see was a thousand dragons thickly swarming around them. Even if every dragon with a rider joined her, to go in would lead to nothing more than a pointless death. There were simply too many.

She slumped in the saddle, anger giving way to hopeless grief. "Oh, Hiccup," she murmured.

Stormfly flew around at a distance, searching in vain to find a way in. _{I'm sorry, Zealot. There's nothing we can do right now. We must flee to at least save ourselves. I do not want to leave Firefly and Toothless, but It's too late to help them.}_

"Well, _now_ it's too late," Astrid ground out. She knew Stormfly's initial resistance made no difference, and complaining about it sounded petulant. The dragon had the kindness not to mention that, though, probably having sensed it somehow.

Already, a plan to rescue Hiccup was forming in her mind. She could rally the riders together. They could make those enthralled dragons good and mad, luring them into a chase. They could clear the way to Hiccup, blast Drago, snatch up Hiccup, avoid any bolas, arrows, ballista bolts, and razor netting, and fly… away… to somewhere…

No, they would be doomed to fail. Five dragons against a thousand, not counting the soldiers that were closing in, now that the Bewilderbeasts were no longer stomping them into the ground. It also didn't help that Eret had no saddle and had zero flying or aerial combat experience. Stormfly was showing signs of exhaustion and the other dragons weren't faring much better. They weren't exactly fed while under captivity on Drago's ship, and while the riders would be fine, dragons had almost no body fat at all. They wouldn't be able to evade the hostiles for long, let alone fly gods-knew-how-far to Berk.

They would have to hole up here and pray they were left alone. As a shieldmaiden, Astrid's sworn loyalty before the gods was to the Hooligan tribe. Losing Hiccup was a notion she couldn't bear to consider, but the needs of the many outranked the needs of the few. The best plan for Berk would be to hide, eat and rest, then fly back to Berk to warn them and offer assistance.

The duo turned and caught up with the rest of the riders.

Ruffnut asked, "Is Hiccup-"

"He's fine," Astrid said. "Nothing we can do but bide our time."

She told herself, _if Drago kills Hiccup, he'll die a slow-_

Eret coughed. "Listen, Astrid, I know this must hurt, but-"

"I. Said. He's. Fine." Astrid ground out with a challenging stare. Eret looked away and held his peace.

 _Painful, colorful, elegant_ -

"He's _Hiccup_ ," Fishlegs offered in a failed attempt to sound cheerful. "He's too stubborn... to…" he drifted off.

 _Excruciating, disgusting, humiliating death_.

Astrid took a deep breath and tried to slide back into her shieldmaiden routine. "Alright guys, we cannot launch an offensive right now. Our dragons are too tired to fly back to Berk without the risk of being overtaken by the ones Drago commands, and don't let them tell you otherwise. We need to hole up somewhere. Storm, can you find us a defensible location?"

Stormfly chirped back and forth with the Hobblegrunt and Astrid could hear bits of conversation between them, but it was too fast to keep up. An instant later, the Hobblegrunt took the lead and guided them up the side of the mountain. They all alighted on a high ledge and walked single-file down a short tunnel. Light filtered through a ceiling made of ice to dimly illuminate the way. It wasn't long until the tunnel opened up into a chamber made more from stone than ice.

Looking around, this appeared to be a living chamber. Astrid had heard about how Hiccup's mother, Valka, if memory served, was snatched away during a dragon raid so long ago. Earlier, Hiccup had said that Drago's so-called dragon thief and Hiccup's mother were the same person. The pieces started to fall into place. How this was so was a mystery, but it seemed Valka somehow established herself here.

A cooking fire had faded to ashes in the center of the chamber, enshrouded by a hearth of loose stones. A straw mat lay near a wall, an obvious bed with furs crumpled on top. Astrid's sharp eyes recognized that the stone around it was worn smooth, no doubt from her dragon curling around her every night. Dragons loved sleeping on stone and Astrid learned a long time ago that no bedding could ever substitute.

It was a good spot to hold out. Aside from the narrow tunnel from which they entered, another tunnel led deeper into the heart of the mountain. There would be no access from the ground, and attacking dragons would be forced to enter single-file, so this would be as good a spot as any.

A wood pile was stacked against the far wall with about a half cord of wood. Astrid walked over, her dragon in tow, to fetch some for the fire, but then stopped. The fire would produce smoke, which would only draw attention to their hidey hole.

"So, what do we do now?" Snotlout asked.

Astrid sighed. "The only thing we can do. We hide and wait."

* * *

 **A/N:**  
Thanks for reading and thank you Colorful Crayola for being my beta buddy!

So, I'm curious, on a scale of 1-10, how badly do you want to punch me in the face right now?

Dragonrider's Fury, Glad ya liked the action scenes. I'll have to remember to include some more later in this story (wink wink). Also, IKR, going from the scrawny runt to the rider of the Night Fury can make it really hard not to get a big head, no matter how generous one is at heart.

Toothlessgolfer, I completely agree about Toothless being a pushover to Hiccup. If he was really sharp, the plot sure would get boring, so I'm giving him his own character flaws. I don't dwell on it in this story, but I did in other works. In my eyes, Toothless doesn't have the spine to oppose his rider beyond mere suggestions because of all the times in the past when Hiccup's crazy ways turned out for the better.

I can't help but wonder, though, in stark contrast to the popular "Run Away" AU for HTTYD 1, what would happen if Hiccup does _not_ fly off against his father's orders in HTTYD 2? Drago would attack Valka's sanctuary and then there would probably be a big fight on Berk or something like that. Maybe Valka finds a way to chase Drago to Berk - "Hey, who are you?" "I'm Valka, now let's go kick Drago's butt!"

L'assassin orange, I know what you're thinking. "But Bewilderbabies! FizzleMcSchnizzle, you're a conman!" Don't worry, I didn't specify who would lay their eggs… or _did_ lay their eggs that would be discovered later on... or whether it's Hiccup or Drago or someone else who discovers them…

Am I evil? Definitely, but hopefully not to an excessive degree. :P


	17. Entangled

**Entangled**

Toothless could only stare in shock. She had fallen. The great sea dragon was actually defeated.

He had just started to realize just how much respect she genuinely deserved. With a single thought, she could kill or enslave a thousand dragons. She had the power to rule over them, but she chose to serve. Instead of taking, she chose to give. Instead of conquering, she chose to rescue.

She was Firefly in dragon form.

She even had the capacity to control her own rage, to limit or suppress how it affected her. Toothless had always struggled with that. Back when he was a mindless thrall to the demonic queen, his nestmates quickly learned that if they took one of his scales, he'd take their head.

Ever since Firefly freed him from the demonic queen's mind snare, Toothless would always growl and bare his teeth at anyone who so much as gave Firefly a funny look. He would have eviscerated some land-striders who forgot that the offspring of lightning and death watched over Firefly, but whenever his vision swam with red, Firefly always placed himself in the way, even going so far as to shove his hand into Toothless' mouth. It was maddening, but in such situations, Toothless didn't dare move a single muscle and so was forced to endure the burning of rage within.

The white sea dragon had no such advantage, no such thermals to drift on. She had to discover self-control from within herself, and Toothless was beginning to realize that he could never fully realize just how impressive of a feat that was, but she was gone, just like that. A mystery of a dragon that embodied what Toothless adored in his own rider was taken away.

Toothless was snapped out of his daze when his Firefly leaped at the land-strider warlord, but he was swatted away without effort. Toothless coiled his haunches and pounced, but something slammed into him, knocking him aside. It was a dragon, one that wore those iron carapace plates land-striders made to cover his body. Warlord kicked Firefly to the ground and Toothless roared in anger and he tried to pounce again, but four more dragons intervened.

It was over. He knew it. Firefly's plan had failed.

The gray sea dragon turned and stared at Toothless and he wilted like a flower under dragonfire. He could feel the pressure against his mind.

 _{WHAT IS THIS, A BLACK DRAGON, ALL FOR ME? MY ALPHA COULD USE YOU, AND YOU WILL OBEY.}_

The pressure Toothless felt on his mind knocked the breath out of him. He tried to fight against it. He tried to resist. He would not go down without a fight. He would overpower that vile, cruel, hateful, spiteful creature.

Firefly cried out to his dragon, at least he would have if breathing wasn't so difficult. Toothless lunged for his rider, but more dragons intervened. He thrashed around, biting and clawing at them, but for every one he took down, ten more entered the fray.

Trapped under a mountain of dragons, Toothless could only squirm and paw at his sensor lobes. He tried to push back against the pressure of the great sea dragon on his mind, and to his immense relief, it was working! His head felt like it was full of air and floating away, but the pressure lessened. The great sea dragon was trying to control him, but it was to no avail. The black dragon pushed back with all his will, determined that he would never again lose control over his own mind.

But then again, he realized that he wasn't actually fighting against the great sea dragon, but pulling with him. Clearly, something else had enthralled him and this sea dragon was helping him escape. Yes! That _had_ to be it!

However, something was amiss. He let out an alarmed yelp as he realized he was missing his… the… something. He had _something_ and it was missing. He craned his neck around to look down the length of his tail. The prosthetic tailfin was still there, so that couldn't have been it.

His eyes felt drawn to those of his alpha, the great sea dragon, but he found no answers there. He was definitely fighting… something.

Behind the alpha, another sea dragon lay unmoving in a pool of her own blood, almost entirely covered by large chunks of stone and ice. He killed her, which would explain why his entire front side was covered in blood. Memories flooded back to the black dragon. Yes, he remembered, now. He was enslaved. His mind was caught in her mind snare, but Alpha freed him.

 _{I SAVED YOU FROM HER MIND SNARE. YOU SHOULD BE GRATEFUL.}_

The black dragon groaned at his own ill manners. He flopped down and rolled onto his side, presenting his belly to Alpha in a gesture of submission. _{Truly, you are gracious to save a little worm such as myself. I shall fly and bring you tribute to show my gratitude.}_

 _{YOUR TRIBUTE TO ME IS RIGHT NEXT TO YOU. I WANT TO EAT HIM.}_

The black dragon turned to see a flea of a land-strider, and his heart fluttered. There was something odd about that creature, something appealing to the dragon.

Aha! Of course! It was missing its left foot. The silly creature lost its left foot somewhere. It moved towards the dragon, but it was a slow crawl.

 _{DO NOT LET IT TOUCH YOU! WHILE IT LIVES, ITS TOUCH IS VENOM, IT IS DEATH!}_

The black dragon looked at his alpha, confused by this. _{How can I present this land-strider as tribute to you if I cannot touch it?}_

 _{YOU MUST KILL IT FIRST. BURN IT WITH FIRE. IT'S TOUGHER THAN IT LOOKS, SO MAKE IT A BIG FIREBALL.}_

The black dragon huffed at himself. Of course! Fire solved all problems! He found it so amazing how easily he could forget such things.

He started gathering the fuel in his throat. Sensing its impending doom, the land-strider pressed forward more urgently and the dragon stepped back. The poor thing should have been put out of its misery a long time ago, anyway. Killing it would be an act of mercy.

Regardless, the will of Alpha could not be denied.

########

* * *

########

"There!" Stoick declared. "That should do it." He looked up at Cloudjumper's owlish face. "Think you can fly, big feller?"

The dragon trilled happily. Almost his whole tail had been encased in ice from the gray Bewilderbeast. It wasn't the regular sort of ice, but the hardest stuff to chip through. Between his hammer and the dragon's fire, though, Cloudjumper was flight-worthy once again. The dragon was enthusiastically flexing his tail and the fins at the end of it.

The two riders climbed onto their respective dragons and took off to enter the fray again.

"Val," Stoick shouted over the wind, "we really need to make sure your Dragon King wins this fight."

"But…" she whimpered.

"Val," he said in exasperation.

Valka nodded. She knew he was right, though it was hard for her to accept it. "Yes," she finally said. "Flaming gray one's eyes should help much. Also, ears on side of head. Look for gap between spikes."

"I know this isn't easy, Val, but thank you for trusting me. Now, let's end this once and-"

His voice was suddenly drowned out by a piercing roar that caused his dragon to falter in flight. Stoick felt a chill in his stomach even before they cleared the edge of the mountain to see the battling Bewilderbeasts.

Well, they weren't battling anymore. Valka's Dragon King lay in a pool of her own blood. A deafening crack sounded out and the entire side of the mountain sheared off and fell on top of her, crumbling apart into massive boulders of ice and stone.

Valka shrieked in disbelief. Stoick anticipated that she would surge towards the sea dragon and urged Skullcrusher to cut them off. Valka's wide eyes locked on Stoick's.

"We can't help your Dragon King," Stoick shouted over the cacophony. "It hurts, I know how it feels."

Valka glared at him and shouted, "You have no idea-"

"How it feels to lose a loved one?" Stoick calmly cut her off. Valka slumped on her dragon's back.

Stoick pinched the bridge of his nose and urged his dragon back to safety and Cloudjumper followed. He wanted to wrap his arms around Valka and comfort her, but the realization dawned on him that they now had a Red Death, a titan that could control the minds of dragons, and it was controlled by Drago. They would need to remain on their dragons.

"What do we do?" Valka asked.

"The only thing we can do. Flee to Berk. Grab our dragons and riders and-" He suddenly noticed that his son was on the beach. Well, technically, suspended above the beach, held in a stranglehold around his neck. Stoick's blood boiled. Drago would die a painful death, a thousand times over if possible.

Valka followed his gaze and gasped. No words were necessary. Parental instincts kicked in. Suddenly, nothing else mattered at all. They would save their son or die trying. Nothing would stop them.

However, something did stop them. A thousand dragons shot towards them. Stoick and Valka tried to fly around, but there were simply too many and they were forced to retreat.

"How do we get in?" Valka wailed. "Our son is down there!"

"I know," Stoick said. He paused in thought, then snapped his fingers at an idea. "Valka, Cloud, you run distraction. Make those dragons good and mad and get them to chase you. Skull and I are gonna…" He looked down at his dragon, reminding himself that his scaly companion was an equal, not a warhorse. "Skullcrusher, I, uhhh, I don't know how this is going to end, and if we get separated-"

Valka interrupted him with, "Skull says shut up and tell him where to fly. He says he would sooner die at your side than abandon you." Her eyes fluttered as she realized what Stoick would be doing. "I just found the man I now realize I can't live without. Please don't take him away from me."

Stoick smiled at her. "And break your heart? Who do you think I am?"

Valka smiled wide.

"Now go!" Stoick ordered. "Give them a good chase so I can get in there."

Cloudjumper turned around and bellowed a challenging roar at the enthralled dragons. He spat out a fireball and most of them peeled off to chase him. Stoick took a moment to pray to the gods they would be fine.

Already, Skullcrusher was folding his wings to dive at Hiccup and Drago. "You are big," Stoick said to his dragon. "You are strong. You are unstoppable. Nothing can hinder you, Skullcrusher."

Valka and Cloudjumper had taken away the bulk of the enthralled dragons on a chase, but there were still plenty to plow through. Skullcrusher's bulbous, carapace-armored body bounced off various dragons as they dove down. After some grappling and tumbling, he ended up splayed out over the back of a Gronckle, using its body as a bulwark as they descended towards an enthralled Toothless, who appeared to be building up a fireball.

They smacked into the Night Fury at an oblique angle, the impact shooting all dragons plus rider in different directions. Stoick immediately rolled to a crouch and lunged at Drago, who was too shocked to react, and the two tumbled across the ground. He was about to grab his belt knife to end this when he noticed Toothless advancing on Hiccup, building up another fireball in his mouth.

Stoick leaped at the dragon, who tried to hop around to avoid contact, no doubt ordered to do so by the Bewilderbeast. However, Stoick knew how to fight him, how to pull his strings. Over the years, he had come to know the strengths, limitations, and tendencies of most dragons on his island. Whether Hiccup liked it or not, Stoick spent a lot of time teaching the dragons how to handle themselves in a fight against Vikings and learning in the process how to better fight them. He always feared there could be another Red Death and wanted to be as prepared as possible. Today, it would seem, his fears have come true.

So, Stoick lunged forward and thrust out his knife. In past training sessions, with Hiccup acting as a translator, Toothless had told Stoick that such a move would trigger an instinctual reaction to twist around and bite down on his arm. That was what he was counting on and that was exactly what he got. It hurt, but Toothless' pupils widened from narrow slits to look a bit less demonic and he quickly retracted his teeth as contact with Stoick started to block the mind control.

"You had one job!" Stoick shouted at the dragon.

Toothless grunted at that.

"Alright, maybe a few, but did I not tell you to keep Hiccup safe? Does this look safe to you?!"

Skullcrusher came charging at them and Toothless yanked Stoick back just in time.

"I mean, _really_ ," Stoick said to Toothless. "Did you have any doubt how this would go? Do you think I give such orders out of spite?"

The dragon's culpable look as he shrunk in on himself was all the response required.

Stoick noticed his sword nearby, still embedded in the wooden arm. Toothless noticed too and they moved in unspoken coordination, hand on snout. Toothless placed a paw on one end of the arm and Stoick stomped on the other. With his other hand, he was able to tear the sword free.

Drago's cruel laughter sounded out and Stoick turned to face him. "Oh, this is rich," Drago sneered. "I suppose you've come to witness true strength, strength of will over others. In the face of it, you are nothing!"

Stoick bristled and said, "You speak of strength, but only the weak use others for their own purpose. Does your army know that they have no worth in your eyes?"

Drago curled his lips in anger. "You are _weak_! You did not conquer your enemy. You made peace with them!"

Skullcrusher roared and charged forward, pupils slitted, clearly under the mind snare. Stoick was forced to drop the sword and sidestep his dragon. In an impressive acrobatic feat, Toothless leaped straight up, flipped around mid-air, and dug his claws underneath the carapace plates to flop down heavily on Skullcrusher's back.

Using the momentary distraction, Stoick dropped his sword and lunged at Skullcrusher's neck to grab the saddle and swing up. However, his plan to free both dragons from the mind control was thwarted when Toothless lurched to the side, already enthralled again. Hiccup tried to lunge for his own dragon, but Drago casually kicked him aside and Toothless fell under the sea dragon's control again.

Stoick dismounted to stand by his dragon and shouted, "I may ride a dragon, but I don't hide behind them, Drago. Face me like a man." He tucked his left hand behind his back, still pressed against his dragon's snout. "I'll even fight with one hand behind my back to make things more fair," he said with a smirk.

"Ha!" Drago retorted. "Why even bother when I can have your own dragons kill you?"

Stoick shook his head. "What shame your parents must have felt to have raised such a coward."

"I'LL KILL YOU!" Drago bellowed. He charged at Stoick, but Toothless ran ahead and leaped. Skullcrusher lunged forward and met the enthralled dragon head-on. Stoick stumbled and managed to land his hand on Toothless's shoulders, but the dragon twisted around to bite down on his already bloodied left arm.

Toothless' pupils widened and he whined apologetically. Skullcrusher took a couple bounding strides away as fast as he could, even as the mind control fell over him, faithfully giving his rider as much time as possible without his interference.

Toothless flicked his tail and Stoick's sword clattered to rest at his feet. The dragon turned his head to the side, exposing his neck. He flicked his gaze at the sword, then Stoick's face, then closed his eyes.

Stoick plucked up the sword. He knew exactly what was being asked of him. The dragon would sooner die than harm his rider, and that was literally what he wanted before he lost control of his mind and body again.

Stoick took a look at Hiccup, who was shakily crawling on his hands and knees, and his heart broke. He knew he could never bring himself to kill Toothless. It would break the boy's heart and then he might as well be dead.

The enthralled Skullcrusher charged forward again, along with more dragons entering the fray. Stoick and Toothless leaped around, trying to avoid them. They tried to get to Hiccup, but there were too many dragons blocking the way. Stoick even tried separating from Toothless to get to his son, but that was to no avail. It was hopeless and he knew it.

Skullcrusher swung a tail around and Stoick managed to barely duck under it in time. He lunged at Drago, catching him by surprise, and jammed his belt knife into the monster's side. Drago casually pulled it out with a sinister laugh as if it was nothing, and slashed at Stoick, who ducked back. A Nadder quill shot into Stoick's leg and he fell to his knees, already feeling the venom's effect. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Drago leaped forward with deadly intent.

He never touched Stoick, though. Something slammed him aside and Stoick looked up in astonishment to see a Nadder bouncing off of Drago. Off to the side, Cloudjumper was thumping down on his taloned feet and Stoick realized that the dragon rammed the Nadder into Drago to save him. Cloudjumper opened his mouth wide and let out a torrent of fire, spinning around to bathe their perimeter in flames.

"I'm not leaving our son behind!" Stoick shouted up at Valka. She wasn't supposed to enter the fray like this!

"That makes two of us!" she shot back.

"This fight is hopeless and you know it!"

Valka held his stare and grinned. "I did say I won't run off on you again."

Stoick laughed wildly for a moment as he fought alongside his wife and her dragon. They tried to make their way to their son, but it all amounted to nothing more than a momentary distraction. Enthralled dragons lunged at them, unhindered by the fire and smoke. Cloudjumper put up a good fight, but he was overwhelmed and trampled underfoot. Valka was tossed off and scrambled to Stoick's side

The sound of a Night Fury on a fire run sounded out. Toothless was building up a fireball, slitted eyes fixed on Hiccup.

At that instant, Stoick was surprised that he felt only relief, as if a massive weight was lifted from his shoulders. Ever since Hiccup showed that dragons could be friends instead of enemies, Stoick always felt off-kilter. When Hiccup flew off two days ago, Stoick felt like he was always one step behind everyone else. Now, though, he knew what he had to do.

As he shoved Valka at her dragon and shouted for them to go, he knew he was doing what he had to do. As he leaped for his son, he knew he was doing what he wanted to do. As he whispered something his son probably wouldn't hear in the heat of the situation but would hear from his perceptive dragon, he knew he was doing what was the right thing to do.

Stoick had never felt so certain in his whole life.

* * *

 **A/N:  
** Thanks for reading and thank you Colorful Crayola for being my beta buddy.

Now, you may be wondering, "FizzleMcSchnizzle, did you leave me on this cliffhanger because you think you're funny or just to be plain evil?" To which my answer would be a little bit of both.

Dragonrider's Fury, thanks for the encouragement! I got some surprises in the works.

Toothlessgolfer, IKR! The movie sure had all the riders doing a lot of nothing during the Bewilderbeast battle instead of, ya know, going for the eyes as they did with the Red Death. If you haven't seen it yet, I think you'd get a kick out of searching YouTube for "How To Train Your Dragon 2: How It Should Have Ended".


	18. Fallen

**A/N:  
** This is the most graphic chapter I've written. Do not read while eating sushi.

* * *

 **Fallen**

Hiccup never felt so helpless in his whole life. His head throbbed in pain, Toothless and Stoick were fighting, and all Hiccup could do was crawl because he was missing his prosthetic foot.

He knew he had to reach Toothless, but that dragon just wouldn't hold still. One moment, he was enthralled by Drago's Bewilderbeast, then he was under his own control because Stoick was touching him, but they'd be forced to separate and Toothless would be lost again. Somewhere in all that mess, Valka and Cloudjumper swooped in, but the rampaging enthralled dragons forced them apart and Cloudjumper fell under the mind snare.

The piercing shriek of a Night Fury on a fire run sounded out and Hiccup snapped his eyes to his best friend. Toothless was staring through vacant, slit pupils, controlled by the Bewilderbeast, and forced to kill his own rider for Drago's sick pleasure.

Hiccup knew he was dead. Even if all the riders and their dragons were to dive in, there were simply too many enthralled dragons to deal with. Toothless would shoot his fireball and nothing could stop him. It was simply going to happen.

Hiccup rose up to his knees - he would have stood if he could - and looked into his dragon's eyes with a forced smile on his face. Dragons had a flawless memory, even while under the mind snare, and Hiccup wanted Toothless' last memory of his living rider to be of peaceful acceptance instead of terror.

"I love you, Bud," he said softly. He knew his voice was drowned out by the cacophony of a thousand enthralled dragons swarming about, but it was his thought projections that Toothless would hear. "It's not your fault. I'm sorry." _Sorry I tore off your tailfin. Sorry I took advantage of the fact that you can never say no to me. Sorry I put you in this situation. Sorry I let your mind become dominated like this. Sorry your rider is a disappointing failure._

As Toothless reared back to shoot his fireball, Hiccup noticed movement off to the side. His heart slammed to his feet at the sight of his father charging in. Hiccup shot up on his good foot and only then remembered that he was missing his prosthetic. Even as he started to tip over, he shouted, "No! Dad, don't!"

A bright ball of whitish purple death shot out from the Night Fury's open maw and everything blurred past in a rush. Hiccup tried to scramble to his father to stop him. The fireball closed the distance in the blink of an eye and he knew exactly what would happen, but that only made him hate himself even more. In all the chaos, the only thing he saw was his father leaping, mid-air, with a reproachful look on his face.

The blast was deafening. Hiccup was slammed to the ground as his father's body was flung by the explosion and glanced over him. For an instant, the side of his face pressed against Stoick's broad chest, through which he could see a glimpse of daylight. Hiccup instinctively closed his eyes and pulled his arms over his head as he rolled over the ground.

Everything went quiet. At least, Hiccup could only assume so because he could hear nothing beyond the ringing in his ears. Nearby, Stoick lay on the ground, face-down, and Hiccup gagged at the sight. His father's back and shoulders were completely blown wide-open and his head hung limp at a gut-wrenching angle. The contents of his chest cavity were flung out from his back by the force of the explosion to lay strewn across the ground. Hiccup couldn't hold back the urge to vomit and quickly turned to the side.

When he felt like the retching had passed, he scrambled over to his father's body. He tried to flip him over, to see his face, to beg him to remain here in Midgard, but there was no strength left.

His hearing started to return and the sound of dragons roaring could be discerned over the ringing in the ears. Hiccup slumped to the ground by his father and broke down crying, the rest of the world lost to him. He hated himself for causing this. He wanted the ground to open and swallow him up and take him to Helheim. _Or, more likely_ , he grimly thought to himself, _such an utter failure belongs on Náströdr, the shore of corpses._

Drago strode up and stood over them, laughing cruelly. Hiccup made no attempt to flee, wishing for nothing more than a quick death to end the suffering. Instead, Drago flipped him over to force him to look up. The monstrous warlord was wearing a smirk on his face. He wedged his foot under the front of Stoick's shoulder and flipped him over.

"Takes more than a little fire to kill you, old fool?" Drago asked nobody in particular. "Well, how about a _lot_ of fire."

Valka, shaken from her stunned stupor, pulled out a knife and rushed at Drago. Hiccup tried to tell her to stay with her dragon, to mount up and fly out while she could, but a strangled croak was all that came out. Valka lunged at Drago, but her movements were frantic and uncoordinated. Drago grabbed the wrist of her arm holding the knife and rammed his forehead into hers, sending her to the ground in an unconscious heap.

Hiccup could only stare at his parents, mumbling, "Why? Why?"

Drago picked up Hiccup by the neck and said, "Because they refused to serve me, plain and simple."

Hiccup closed his eyes and tried to shake his head. He knew that, of course, but he still couldn't come to terms with what his father did. The last thing he saw in Stoick's face, as he leaped to take the hit, was the unspoken reprimand of, "I told you so!" Hiccup had his marching orders to remain airborne. He disobeyed his chief who knew what was best and his father who loved him dearly, and now Stoick paid the price.

The stranglehold was squeezing the life out of Hiccup and he gave up his struggling. His vision faded to black. _It is better this way_ , he told himself.

"Hmm? What's that?" Drago asked with raised eyebrows. He tightened his hold on Hiccup's neck. "I could kill you, boy. Squeeze the life right out of you while your pet dragon watches."

Drago dropped Hiccup on the ground to wheeze on air, and he said, "But why kill you now? I think I'll be merciful and let you live. I'll leave you with your mother and father, just as I was left by mine." He plucked up his bullhook and pointed the tip at Valka's neck, but his eyes flicked over to the dead Dragon King, and he smirked down at Valka. "Say goodbye."

Hiccup weakly rose to his hands and knees. "I love you, Mom," he whimpered. "I'm so sorry. Both of you, I love you and I'm sorry. I… I just wish-"

He gasped and closed his eyes as the bullhook slammed down. Drago chuckled and Hiccup eventually dared to open his eyes again. The point of the bullhook was embedded in the ice next to Valka. Hiccup was so relieved that his arms turned to flax and he flopped to the ground.

"I changed my mind. I think I'll be extra nice," Drago said. He pulled out a knife, grasping it between his thumb and forefinger, and reached down and wrapped his other three fingers around the single braid that all of Valka's hair was tied into. He lifted her off the ground, twisted his wrist to drive the blade into the braid to cut it off near the scalp, and let her slump to the ground, still unconscious.

"There," Drago said. " _Now_ I'll leave you with your mother and father." He turned to walk away, then paused. "Well…"

He pointed at Stoick with his bullhook. The Night Fury took a step forward, placed one paw on Stoick's chest, and wrapped his maw around the head. Hiccup tried not to look as his dragon bit down and pulled hard to tear the head off the shoulders. He tried not to hear the sound of tearing flesh and snapping tendons. He tried not to whimper and curl up on himself.

"Well," Drago said, " _most_ of him."

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Tord Helsing, Admiral of the fleet and ally with Drago, surveyed the carnage on the beach. All around, there was nothing but death and desolation. What was supposed to be a quick, clean assault had turned into a slaughter.

He did not want to be on this accursed island anymore. During this brief battle, he felt like his forces served no purpose. The dragons raining down fire created a curtain of smoke that made it almost impossible to shoot them with arrows, ballista bolts, and bolas, but they weren't much of a threat, as puzzling as that was. After that initial rain of fire, which hardly claimed any casualties, the dragons didn't attack. Some swooped down and were quickly captured or killed, but something about their behavior struck Tord as odd and unnatural.

The real threat turned out to be Drago's own Bewilderbeast. Everything went to hell in a handbasket the moment they landed on the beach and those damned monsters started fighting. Drago had Tord advance the army in formation, but those two titans had wiped out at least half the soldiers, whether stepping on them, smashing them with a flick of a massive tail, encasing them in ice, or tumbling over them.

There was no such thing as shelter from that storm. Every icy crag or ship hull that the soldiers took cover behind was just a tinder stack under a heavy boot. The titans plowed through anything in their path, and the only survival tactic was to be elsewhere. Tord himself narrowly avoided death when the gray Bewilderbeast flopped around on its back to scramble up to all fours again. He watched a fellow soldier, who was much less fortunate, get crushed under the beast's foot. That man's blood was splattered over a radius of at least thirty feet.

Such an unstoppable onslaught sent everyone running for their lives, every man for himself. What had started as an orderly assault quickly degraded into a struggle to survive. It was enough of a struggle just to maintain some semblance of order with his unit commanders. What had started as an unorganized mob of chickens with their heads cut off was organized into cohesive units spreading apart and away from the Bewilderbeasts. The dragons above were too busy fighting amongst themselves at the moment, but nobody wanted to be caught out alone and unprepared.

Fortunately, now that the white Bewilderbeast was down, Drago's gray one wasn't crushing soldiers underfoot anymore. Instead, to Tord's immense relief, it was sliding back into the water, leaving a moment of calm on the battlefield. Well, calmer than it was before, but the screeching of a thousand dragons and the wailing of the "lucky" survivors was not easily ignored. Almost all the ships were burning and the army was a scattered mess of anguish and blood, but at least Drago's damned Bewilderbeast wasn't rampaging around anymore.

Drago emerged from the swarm of dragons, astride the fabled Night Fury. Tord ran up to salute him, but a shiver ran down his spine and he traced a cross over his chest. Not only was Drago consorting with such a demon, but a man's freshly severed head was hanging by its hair from his belt. Tord never could get used to the barbaric ways of these unbelievers in the North. In fact, if it wasn't for the urging from the pope himself, St. Gregory the Seventh, to work with Drago to deal with these heathens and their domesticated demons, Tord never would have taken his soldiers to this god-forsaken place.

Still, there were matters to attend to. Tord had some choice words for Drago, but for the moment, he settled for a formal greeting, "Hail, Drago." He was allied with the warlord, but that didn't mean there wouldn't be consequences for such tunnel-visioned recklessness.

Drago gestured with his one arm to the dragons flocking above. "Such a beautiful sight, is it not?"

Tord paled, then his face flushed in anger. He tried to keep his tone in check as he ground out, "It's a _disaster_! Our casualties are so high they cannot be tallied!"

Drago shrugged it off. "That matters not. I've _tripled_ my dragon army! With these new dragons-"

"Madness!" Tord shouted. He gestured to the carnage all around them. "Your damned Bewilderbeast killed half the soldiers on the beach! It was one thing to allow you to use your pet dragons to capture more dragons, but this cannot stand!"

"Oh, shove it," Drago said irritably. "I don't need you or your little army anyway. I just learned that my plan to have your men ride my dragons won't work."

He smiled at Tord's incredulous look. Tord knew that Drago wanted more dragons under his thumb, and he allowed it because it was producing results. There was a certain poetry to using those spawns of Satan against their own kind. However, the idea of riding those _things_ into battle was preposterous!

Tord ground out, "What you do with your Viking allies is one thing, but how long have you been planning to put _my_ men on _your_ demons?"

Drago rolled his eyes and made a shooing gesture with his hand as his dragon stepped forward. "As I said, it doesn't matter anymore. I have what I want. You've served your purpose. Tell your pope I'll be coming with hellfire and brimstone, and he'd rather be my ally than my enemy."

With that, he slapped the back of the dragon's head and it took off into the sky, with all the other dragons roaring and taking off to follow. Despite the roiling anger at this betrayal, the fact that the Night Fury had some sort of sail rigging and what appeared to be a leather prosthetic tailfin was what commanded his attention for a moment.

One of the Viking unit commanders, Thorred, sidled up by Tord and said, "Did our ally just do what I think he just did?"

Tord jerked his attention away from the sky and looked at the other man. "If, by that, you mean leave us for dead in favor of those demons, then yes. And he isn't our 'ally', not anymore. It was a mistake to trust him. I should have slain him and his pets long ago. May the Lord smite him from the sky and drag his corrupt soul down to the lowest dregs of Hell!"

"That's one of the afterlife realms you Christians is always talkin' about, the bad one, right?" Thorred asked.

Tord deflated and groaned. "Yes."

"Then I'll drink to that!" Thorred crowed. "May Garm feast on his corpse!"

"You Vikings have too many gods," Tord said.

"Bah! He ain't no god, just their guard dog. You're right, though; you don't have enough gods, just one good, one bad, and one dead."

Tord bristled at that. "Christ is not dead! He's-"

"Whatever!" Thorred cut him off with a dismissive wave. "I got wounded to take care of."

Tord chafed to smack some sense into Thorred, but he resisted the temptation. Besides, the Holy Scripture said to "love your enemies," and as he reminded himself, he needed the aid of these heathens. They knew how to sail these waters, endure the unforgiving cold, and deal with dragons. Though their ways were crooked and perverse, they were a necessary evil.

Some more unit commanders gathered around and Tord said to them all, "Men, we're on our own. Drago has ditched us for his dragons." He paused and allowed the shouts of outrage to settle. "We all need to work together. Organize your men, triage the survivors and gather the dead together. Mark which ships stand a ghost of a chance of being made seaworthy again, and harvest timber from the others for firewood." To the barbaric Vikings, he said, "You may want to build pyres for your dead, but I will see to it that my men receive a proper burial."

"What about _them_?" Thorred asked, pointing off to the side.

Tord blinked in surprise. He hadn't noticed the trio of dragon riders. One was dead on the ground, beheaded, another, female, lay unconscious by his side, and a young man was on his hands and knees, sobbing over them, his spirit broken.

"Dragons incoming!" someone shouted. Tord's eyes followed the point to see five dragons with riders swooping in straight for the trio.

"Great," Tord sighed in exasperation. "Just… great."

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########

Astrid kept her profile low as her Nadder dove for the ground. Everyone had their marching orders. Astrid and Snotlout were on point to run interference while the other dragons would snatch up Hiccup and any other riders on the ground who needed help. Now that Drago had moved on, along with his swarm of dragons, it felt good to be able to actually do something instead of hiding while stewing in frustration and anger.

Something was wrong, though. As they dove, Astrid could see Hiccup down there, on his hands and knees, and Valka was lying on the ground. It looked like Stoick was hurt, prone, face-down, and-

Astrid gasped. She couldn't believe it. Her mind reeled. Stoick couldn't be dead. No, it wasn't possible.

As Stormfly flared her wings to land, Astrid could only stare in shock. It was bad enough that he was killed, but this… this was just… insulting! His head had been hacked off. His entire chest cavity was ripped wide-open through his backside like some sort of hack job Blood Eagle. Not only was he killed, but he was also publicly humiliated!

Astrid saw red, and judging by the gasps giving way to cries of outrage from her fellow riders and dragons, she knew she wasn't alone. She was off her dragon and on the ground the instant the talons touched down with the curt order to her companions of, "Everyone on me!" Turning to the enemy soldiers, she shouted, "I demand to know who did this to _my_ chief! Bring him forward _now_ and I will spare the rest of you!"

Silence reigned for a moment. Drago's army seemed robbed of speech. Behind her, Fishlegs was picking up Hiccup, who mumbled something about Toothless and how he was gone.

"WELL?!" Astrid demanded. "You have to the count of five to answer before we lop off _your_ heads and tear _you_ wide-open!"

The silence continued as the soldiers all looked at each other

"One…" Astrid started counting.

"Why wait?" Snotlout demanded. "I say kill them all, right now!"

"Two…"

A man stepped forward from the crowd who appeared to be in a leadership position, and said, "As if the few of you would attack all of us. You know that's a losing battle."

Astrid stepped right up to his toes and leaned into his face. The fact that they weren't attacking already spoke volumes of their trepidation. "We're Vikings," she said in a dangerous and low voice. "We have stubbornness issues. Do you really want to commit a hundred of your men to death rather than give me what I want? Three…"

The man snorted. "A hundred? Ha!" He dragged a hand down his face and quietly said, "Though I'll admit I've seen enough of my men die today, and the lot of you aren't worth a single one of mine."

"Four…"

"Drago," the man said. "I saw him with a severed head hanging on his belt. Your chief had red hair with a hint of grey, yes? Bushy eyebrows, braided beard?"

Astrid felt all strength rush from her body and she stumbled back a step. She was ready to fight and die for Stoick's honor, but she had seen Drago fly off on Toothless' back. To fight him with his countless enthralled dragons and Bewilderbeast would be pointless. They would be shot down long before even getting close. On top of that, the enthralled dragons were innocent. It wasn't their fault that they could be controlled by the Bewilderbeast, so causing any of their deaths would bring only shame instead of honor. The opportunity to claim vengeance was denied.

Tuffnut scratched his head and asked, "Am I the only one who wants to know-"

"How can Drago fly Toothless?" Ruffnut finished for him.

"No," Tuffnut rolled his eyes, "that's simple. Remember the upgraded tailfin? Hiccup was so proud of it. There was that springy latchy thingy to hold the fin out, but how can Drago ride Toothless?"

"By sitting on him. Duh!" Snotlout said.

"No," Tuffnut said in exasperation. "Riding Toothless should free him from the mind snare because _any_ human does that to a mind-controlled dragon.

"Assuming he _is_ human," Hiccup quietly muttered.

"What are your intents?" the soldier asked.

Astrid took a breath through clenched teeth and ground out, "Our quarrel is not with you, so long as you have the survival instinct to stay out of our way. We will find a way to get to Drago and kill him. You would be wise to make no move to stop us."

"Good luck with that Bewilderbeast of his," one of the soldiers said in mocking jest.

"We'll fare better than you guys did," Tuffnut said.

"Yeah," Ruffnut threw in. "Your own Bewilderbeast crushed half your own army."

"Drago betrayed us!" the leader shouted, stepping forward into Astrid's face. "I _allowed_ him to have his stupid pet on the condition that he would keep it away from my men, and he lied to my face. He will pay for his sins with his own blood and then burn in Hell!"

Astrid smiled at that. "Good, then you won't stand in our way?"

The leader looked her up and down, then at the riders and dragons behind her, and said, "These scaly demons are a blight to which I will not turn my back, but Drago is the greater threat for now and a common enemy. We will let you go and agree to a ceasefire for today if you agree likewise, but if you or any of your company attack any of my men, we will shoot you all down."

Astrid was about to say something about calling their dragons demons but thought better of it. He was clearly too indoctrinated to be worth even trying to correct, and she still needed to take care of Hiccup, Valka, and… Stoick's body.

* * *

 **A/N:  
** Normally, I'd say thanks for reading, but I probably should apologize for writing this in the first place. Either way, thank you Crayola for being my beta buddy.

So, a couple chapters ago, I asked, on a scale of 1-10, how badly you wanted to punch me in the face, and was surprised to hear a resounding, "Meh." Has this chapter changed your stance? :P

Toothlessgolfer, as you can see, you guessed right about Stoick. I already had the "more than a little fire" line written when I saw your comment, but seeing it still made me squeal a little bit. I still got surprises in store, though; in fact, I dropped a very subtle hint about one of them in this chapter.

Dragonrider's Fury, yep, you guessed, in swoop the riders to clean things up. In the movie, Drago just flies off with his army, without having his dragons mop up the rest of his enemies… because that's what an evil warlord does… yeah. And _then_ Drago arrives at Berk with only his dragons, no soldiers in sight. So, this rendition is my best attempt to mold the movie canon into making some sense.


	19. Agreed

**Agreed**

Hiccup felt absolutely nothing.

He felt nothing as Fishlegs picked him up off the beach. He felt nothing as Meatlug flew them up and into the Dragon Sanctuary. He felt nothing as he was set down on the straw mat that served as his mother's bed.

When his listless gaze landed on the unconscious form of his mother, laid down next to him, he suddenly didn't feel nothing anymore.

Hiccup always figured that diplomacy was his strong suit. During the dragon raids, the one dragon that all Vikings were taught to "hide and pray it does not find you", he befriended. He convinced his peers to ride out with him to end a war that had been waged for centuries. He made his tribe accept dragons as friends instead of enemies.

He even twisted the arms of the other nearby tribes to let him train some of their people to become dragon riders, which had results far more profound than anybody had ever anticipated. These new riders ended up doing the heavy lifting in making sure that captive dragons in the Archipelago were freed and the common person was pressured to acknowledge dragons as equals instead of beasts of burden.

Drago had looked like just another bloodthirsty leader who could be persuaded like anyone else. Hiccup was so certain that showing Drago that dragons weren't so unthinking or evil would change things around, but that turned out to be the most horrific mistake he had ever made. Now, the dragon he loved was possessed and taken away, the father he disobeyed died saving his failure of a son, and his unconscious mother would wake up to learn that she also lost her dragon and that watching Stoick die wasn't only a dream. At least, he _hoped_ she would wake up.

"Is Mom…" he feebly started to say, but he choked.

"She'll be fine," Astrid gently said as she knelt down next to him. "She'll have a bump on her head, no doubt, but her pulse is strong and her breathing is even."

Hiccup looked off to the side, and his eyes landed on his father and chief. The body was covered by the sleeping furs the riders had found in Valka's bed chamber, but the images of the gaping hole in his torso and the torn-off head was seared into Hiccup's memory.

"He's… dead," Hiccup mumbled.

"What gave it away?" Tuffnut said sullenly. His sister knocked him to the ground. Instead of scrambling up to retaliate as usual, he lay where he fell, staring up at nothing.

Something bumped Hiccup's arm and he turned to see Stormfly nuzzling him. The dragon dropped a fish from her maw, slid it towards Hiccup, and sniffed at the bruise on the side of his face where Drago hit him with the prosthetic foot. Looking around, he noticed that _all_ the dragons were eating, gorging on fish as if they had been starving for days.

"How can they be eating so peacefully?" he mumbled.

Snotlout hotly retorted, "Well, between being stuck in a cage for a day-and-a-half while you were traipsing around, and then fighting for their lives, they're a bit famished. C'mon, you know dragons have pretty much no body fat all."

An inexplicable anger welled up in Hiccup at the sight of the dragons contentedly feasting. He rose to his knees and shouted at them, "How can you be eating at a time like this?!"

Silence swept the entire chamber. All eyes were turned on Hiccup. The tail end of a fish that was hanging out of Hookfang's open maw teetered on his teeth and flopped to the floor.

Fishlegs stepped forward and consolingly said, "Hiccup-"

"No!" Hiccup shouted. "He's dead! I was there! I watched it happen! Where _were_ all of you?" He fell to his hands and knees and said, "There was nothing I could do. Drago just… Toothless, he…" He choked on his words. "Dad… He's… gone," he whispered.

Stormfly flopped to her side and stretched out her neck, presenting her belly in a draconic form of appeasement. Through his contact with the dragon, he could hear Stormfly's projections. _{I'm sorry, Firefly. Zealot wanted to help, but I was afraid. I was afraid I would lose my rider and then lose my mind and I hesitated and then it was too late. I'm sorry, Firefly, and I do also miss Stalwart. He was a good land-strider.}_

Astrid grabbed Hiccup's tunic and hauled him up to face her. With a missing foot, he braced himself on her shoulders. "Don't you _dare_ try to blame this on my dragon!" she hissed at him. "Stormfly did nothing wrong."

Stormfly tried to wedge her snout between the riders, cawing plantitively. _{It is my fault. Zealot, Firefly, please stop fighting!}_

Astrid pushed her dragon away and lifted Hiccup so he was nose-to-nose with her. "If anyone's to blame, it's-"

"My fault," Hiccup cut her off. He looked down at Stormfly, who was writhing around on her back, trilling and cawing at them. Without contact, he could not hear her, but he knew she was begging them to stop fighting, her loyalty torn between her own rider and the one who was ultimately responsible for her freedom from the Red Death.

Their attention was seized by Eret saying, "Bloody hell! Never even _heard_ of Drago forcing a dragon to submit like _that_!" Hiccup cringed at that. This was not the sort of image he would ever want to give to a prospective dragon rider.

Astrid followed Hiccup's gaze and let go, allowing him to slide down to sit against the dragon. Hiccup closed his eyes and leaned against Stormfly, humming soothingly out of habit. He knew dragons were very different from humans in certain ways. Their attitude towards the dead was much more casual. They would burn a dead body, not for religious reasons, but out of necessity to avoid attracting pests or enduring the stench of rotting flesh.

"Sorry, Storm," he said as he idly stroked her snout. "My fault. I was too prideful. Too arrogant. Dad once told me an alley cat is twice as loyal as me and ten times more disciplined. I didn't want to believe it, but he was right and now he's-" Hiccup shuddered. "He's dead and Toothless is gone and it's-" he sniffled and swiped a sleeve across his eyes, "It's all my fault."

"Stop saying that," Astrid said. "I don't know what happened down there, but stop blaming yourself. Let's move on and figure out what to do with this situation."

Hiccup glared at her. "It's not so easy to just forget and move on. _I_ actually loved him!"

WHACK!

Astrid shook out her stinging hand and Hiccup touched his fingers to his stinging cheek, the one that was not bruised. She stood over him and screamed, "You think I didn't love him?! You think I don't care that he's gone?!"

"Astrid, that's not what I-"

"You think I felt anything other than loyalty and adoration for him?! He was my chief! He was the perfect Viking! He embodied _everything_ I ever aspired to be! He…"

Stormfly cawed plaintively and lunged her head up to snag Astrid's pauldron with her teeth and dragged her down to sit by Hiccup, who wrapped his arms around her and pressed his face into her shoulder. "Sorry," he mumbled. "I… that was uncalled for. I'm sorry."

"Stop apologizing," Astrid said, puffing through some deep breaths for how flushed her face was. "I had no right to hit you, and I'm sorry."

"I miss them," Hiccup pined. "I miss Toothless. I miss Dad."

Astrid reached over and handed Hiccup his prosthetic foot. "We all do. So, what are you gonna do about it?"

"What _is_ there to do?" Hiccup wailed. "Drago has Toothless. He's heading to Berk to take the rest of our dragons and probably kill anyone who doesn't submit."

"And knowing how us Vikings are, that would be all of them," Snotlout tossed in.

Hiccup gave him a flat stare. "Thank you for summing that up."

"And how _can_ Drago fly on Toothless' back?" Fishlegs asked.

"Remember the modification I made to the tailfin?" Hiccup asked. "It actually came in handy yesterday when a dragon plucked me off of Toothless. When the control pedal is released, the torsion springs click a bracket into place to-"

"I know that," Fishlegs said, "but Drago should be freeing Toothless from the mind snare just by riding him. Maybe wearing thick gloves to avoid any skin-to-scale contact would decrease that effect, but he still shouldn't be able to do that, right?"

Hiccup thought back to that dream he had, when the nameless stranger asked how much he would be willing to sacrifice for revenge. "I have a feeling Drago isn't who - or what - we think he is," he said.

"Right, sure," Astrid said. "Whatever, it is what it is. We need to focus on objective thinking. We have five dragons here, and we can at least ride them to Berk."

Hiccup suddenly noticed the new dragon. "What have we here?" he mumbled. Valka had referred to this species as Hobblegrunt, if memory served. He hastily fastened his prosthetic and rose up unsteadily to greet the dragon, holding his hand out, and the dragon didn't hesitate at all to press her snout against his hand.

 _{It is good to see you again, Firefly. I made a new friend, I suppose. He saved me from the mind snare, and I have absolutely no idea what to do now without my alpha.}_

The dragon gave a sad croon. Through the contact, Hiccup saw everything that had happened from the Hobblegrunt's perspective. He saw Dragon King fall, he felt the will of the gray bewilderbeast pressing on the dragon's mind, and he experienced the frantic flight in trying to retain a rider, first Astrid, then Eret when she jumped ship.

"Well, you see," Eret started to say, "When the white Bewilderbeast died, this Hobble-"

Hiccup held up a hand. "She already told me all about it. I never thought I'd live to see the day I'd say I'm glad a dragon hunter had some of those dragon claws on him. You didn't just save your own life, but you saved her from the mind snare by climbing up on top."

Eret's jaw dropped as he took in such a concept of a _dragon_ telling all that to someone, in a single breath at that!

"You're just going to have to accept this and move on," Fishlegs said with a grin.

 _{Please tell the land-strider that I don't blame him for poking me with those shiny claws. I hold no grudge against him.}_

The dragon moved over to nuzzle Eret and Hiccup said, "I think he can tell as is." Turning to Eret, he said, "She wants to let you know that she understands why you had to poke her with those dragon claws. If anything, she's grateful."

"Huh," Eret drawled out. "Uh, well, good. Good girl." He started scratching her snout and was egged on to keep it up when the dragon tilted her head and leaned in.

"Greatest dragon trapper alive, huh?" Hiccup chided.

"They're not so hard to get your hands on if you are kind and trusting," Fishlegs said.

"Unnnghhh." Everyone jumped and looked over at Valka as she stirred. She took a moment to rise to her knees, feeling at where her braid was hacked off. Her eyelids fluttered open and she mumbled, "Cloud… Stoick…"

Her eyes snapped to Stoick and she could only stare in horror. Her fists clenched and her arms shook. She shot to her feet and almost fell back down from dizziness, but Stormfly offered her snout as support.

"I'll kill him!" Valka hissed. "And his Bewilderbeast that killed Dragon King! I'll hunt them down! I'll…" she paused and looked around. "I… how… did we get…" Her eyes narrowed on Eret and she pointed a shaky finger. "You!"

Eret nodded. "Dragon thief," he said, but there was a subtle lilt to his voice.

Hiccup quickly stepped between them. "It's alright, Mom. Eret has changed. Drago left with our dragons, and the soldiers on the beach agreed to a ceasefire. Apparently, Drago's Bewilderbeast killed a lot of their soldiers and he flew off, leaving the rest for dead."

Valka huffed. "Serves them right!" She looked at the Hobblegrunt and her expression immediately softened. "Hello, darling." The dragon hopped over and nuzzled her, no doubt communing to fill her in on everything.

"Well we can't just stay here forever," Ruffnut said, pacing in agitation. "We gotta do _something_."

Tuffnut said, "Actually, we _can_ stay here forever, technically. We got lots of fish, the army can't even get to us up here if they tried, and-"

Ruffnut interrupted her brother with her fist and said, "Hiccup, do that thing you always do."

"What… thing…?" Hiccup asked uncertainty.

"Oh, ya know, that thing where you come up with another brilliant plan to get us out of a pinch."

That struck an odd chord with Hiccup. He felt his face flush. "I can't raise the dead!" he shouted, looking over at his father. He didn't want to stare, but he couldn't look away, and every time he saw his dead father, he saw that "I told you so" expression as he leaped to save his foolish and disobedient son.

Astrid came over to hug Hiccup and he flung his arms around her. "Shhh," she hushed. "It hurts."

"It does," he squeaked out.

"It feels like your heart has been ripped out of your chest."

"It does."

She squeezed even tighter. "I know how it feels."

"You-" Hiccup was about to snap at her, but he stopped himself when he recalled that she suffered loss, too. Though currently an only child, she used to be the youngest of six. In the later years of the dragon raids, she had lost her father to a hunt for the nest, and two sisters and three brothers to various raids.

As a boy, Hiccup had watched at a distance when Astrid cried over their loss and then turned away with steely resolve to train to the point of exhaustion and then some. After the fifth sibling, when Astrid silently grabbed her ax and stalked into the woods, Hiccup went to Gothi for some numbing ointment and boiled bandages. He eventually found her, throwing her ax, the handle of which was stained crimson. The palms of her hands were so bloody and raw, and she was so worn down emotionally and physically, that she didn't stop Hiccup from treating her wounds.

Astrid saw Hiccup staring at her palms and she gently laid a hand against his cheek. He closed his eyes and leaned into her touch, trying to figure out how to express that his treatment of her raw and bleeding hands could not be compared to her treatment of his heart.

"Thank you," he whispered as he released the hug and took a step back. He wiped the tears from his eyes, and when he opened them again, everyone was looking at him. The chief was dead. He was the heir. Astrid was staring at him the same way she would look at Stoick, a loyal warrior awaiting her instructions to carry out. Her expression was dignified, determined, and encouraging all at the same time.

Hiccup gulped.

A moment ago, he felt big and angry, but now he felt like a tiny mouse. He weakly squeaked out, "I… uhhhh… I'm not the chief that he wanted me to be, and I'm not the peace-keeper I thought I was. I… don't know…" he drifted off.

 _I don't know who I am. I don't know what I am. I don't know what to do._

Valka put an arm around Hiccup and pulled him in close. "You came early into this world," she said. "You were a wee thing-" She clutched her head at a wave of nausea, but it passed. "So frail, you were. I feared you wouldn't make it, but your father, he never doubted. He always said you'd be strongest of them all. Regardless of the years between, know this, son. When your father first held you in his hand, and again today, he had no doubt in his mind. You were worth fighting for. You were worth dying for."

Hiccup shuddered. "I miss him. I miss them both. I would give my life to bring them back."

Valka put a hand over Hiccup's chest. "You have the heart of a chief and the soul of a dragon. Others before you tried to end a war that raged on for centuries, or change the hearts of old, bitter, battle-hardened warriors."

"I am not so noble," Hiccup objected. "I didn't set out to save the dragons, and my initial attempt to show their true nature to my tribe almost got me and Toothless killed. The only reason we didn't die back then was pure luck."

Valka slowly shook her head. "I do not believe in luck, son. Where those who you assumed to be your better met only defeat and frustration, you brought victory. When everyone was baying for blood and war, you made them accept peace. It was you, and nobody else, who brought our worlds together." She stared into his eyes. "That. Is. Who. You. Are."

Hiccup took in a deep breath and looked over at his father's body. Slowly, he poured out his heart. "I was so afraid of becoming my dad, mostly because I thought I never could. How do you become someone that great, that brave, that selfless? I guess you can only… try."

Astrid smiled encouragingly. "The shortest path to defeat is to stop trying. So, I'll ask you again. The man who killed your father and stole your dragon from you is flying off to take our dragons and conquer our village. What are you gonna do about it?"

A look of resolution crept over Hiccup's face. He still didn't know what is calling was in life, but he knew what he had to do. "Remove him and that damned Bewilderbeast. Get Toothless back and avenge my father."

"Uhh, nice idea," Tuffnut said, "But Drago kinda has a thousand dragons. There's no way we can go _around_ him and beat him to Berk with the head start he has, and when he gets there, he'll almost double his dragons. And all we'd have is our villagers."

"Yeah, what's a bunch of angry Vikings supposed to do against a bunch of enthralled dragons?" Snotlout asked sullenly. "I mean, our dragons are strong, but you'd be out of your mind to pit our five against Drago's army.

Something about that caught Hiccup's attention. He stared at the ground, mulling it over in his mind. Vikings… dragons… mind… strength. Suddenly, it clicked. Everything fell into place. He lunged forward and plowed into Snotlout, hugging him fiercely and eliciting a surprised yelp and a lot of uncomfortable squirming from the larger rider.

"You're a genius!" Hiccup shouted.

"Uh… thanks? Could you stop, ya know, hugging me? Hookfang? Help!" Snotlout ended up shoving Hiccup off.

"What's on your mind?" Astrid asked. "Something crazy?"

Hiccup grinned at her. "Oh, mere crazy falls far short of where I'm going right now. We have no time to waste." He looked over the dragons gathered around. "Hmm, not enough," he mused. "I need to ask for a brave volunteer."

They all rushed towards him.

"Only one, please."

########

* * *

########

Tord scowled at the ships on the beach. The ones that the dragons had set on fire during the battle actually weren't too bad off. The spray of the waves slapping against the hulls and the beach prevented the fire from destroying too much. Drago's Bewilderbeast was the main liability, followed by the white one. They had crushed quite a few ships, especially the larger ones, but some could be salvaged. For those that still had the main mast, any holes could be patched up with boards cannibalized from other ships.

The sails were in storage under the decks, as they had been using Drago's enthralled Sharkworm sea dragons, harnessed to the ships by heavy chains, to pull them faster than the wind ever could and in any direction. Now that Drago had gone rogue, though, they had to rely on sails when the wind was favorable, and rowing when it wasn't.

If they all crowded onto the few ships they could eventually make seaworthy again, maybe a third of the army could sail away. There were ports within a week of sailing if the winds held right. That was the problem, though. The food and freshwater supply had been running a little low before today, and a lot of that had been lost. The ships heading out would need food, as the crew would need the strength to row, but what about the remaining two thirds on the beach? If the food was rationed very strictly, barring any incidents, it would last a week, if that.

Food was what drove an army forward, after all. Take that away and one would be left with a bunch of angry men who would naturally turn to a riotous anarchy, especially when it came to deciding who would sail out and who would stay behind with only a prayer of rescue. Even without food, they could survive a while, but they would not last long without freshwater. "Water, water, everywhere, and not a drop to drink," was a common sailor's phrase.

Tord had discussed the situation with his unit commanders, but nobody had any solution aside from praying for good winds and even tempers while the land party attempts to scrape by until rescue arrives.

"Dragon spotted!" a soldier called out and all eyes turned skyward. A lone Hobblegrunt circled above, carrying two riders, though it was impossible to tell who they were at such a distance.

"Hail, the army!" one of the riders shouted. "We wish to make a bargain!"

Tord took a few steps forward, cupped his hands around his mouth, and shouted, "Dragon riders, we will entertain peaceful negotiations. You may land if you keep yourself and your beast under control."

"You will not attack us?"

"We will not attack unprovoked."

The dragon descended and came in for a landing. The soldiers reached for their weapons out of habit, but Tord waved them off. "Thorred," he said to his Viking ally who lead the heathen portion of the army, "Keep your men at bay. We may as well hear them out."

Tord marched forward a few paces and the riders - a younger male and and older female - dismounted and walked in front of their dragon. He recognized them as the two living members of the trio Drago had left behind on the beach that Astrid and her company had carried off to safety.

"I greet you," the young man said. "I am Hiccup, and this is my mother, Valka."

"I am Tord. State your business. We agreed to a ceasefire, but I will not have you mingling with my men, demon rider."

Hiccup blinked and smiled. "I would think _you_ would be the demon rider since Drago carried you on his shoulders, figuratively if not literally."

Tord's sword was out in a flash. Hiccup jumped back and Valka held her staff at the ready. "You know _nothing_ , heathen!" Tord shouted.

"I do know you agreed to peaceful negotiations," Hiccup said, flicking his eyes to the dragons and riders perched on various ledges on the icy mountain nearby. "Bid me be gone, and I will immediately comply, but I have a bargain you wouldn't want to dismiss so casually."

"Then state your business," Tord ground out as he slid his sword back into its scabbard. Already, he didn't like this boy, but he wouldn't get more of his own men killed by forcing a fight with the riders and their dragons. He was unpopular enough with all the losses.

The rider assumed a formal expression and said, "You are holding eight dragons in captivity here on this beach." He pointed to each of the eight remaining steel dome traps that survived the battle, saying, "A Monstrous Nightmare in _that_ one, a Gronckle in _there_ , a Raincutter, another Nadder, Thunderclaw, another Nightmare, a Zippleback, and," he took a couple steps to pat a trap nearby, "a Hotburple." He suddenly paused in thought, then snapped his fingers. "Gobber! Where is Gobber?"

"How did you do that?" Tord asked. These dragons were captured during the battle, and stuck in the dome traps. They were the only ones Drago left behind as he was in too much of a hurry to bother with them. "How did you know which dragon was in each trap. What devilry is this?"

"You wouldn't believe him even if he told you," Valka said. Turning to Hiccup, she said, "I can't believe I forgot about him, too. He must be in hiding somewhere. If this is Grump-" the dome trap rattled and a bellow sounded from within, "then he can find Gobber once we release him."

Hiccup flicked his eyes back to the mountain and Tord noticed a Nadder kick off to glide around the mountain. "I think they're already on it," he said.

"And why should I release them?" Tord asked.

Hiccup smiled innocently. "Because Drago is now your enemy as much as he is mine, and these dragons will help me take him down. Besides, with your current food and water supplies, you won't last much longer than a week."

"What would make you think that?" Tord demanded, trying not to let on that the rider was absolutely correct.

Hiccup shrugged. "The dragons overheard you discussing the situation with your men. They passed that on to our Hobblegrunt," he motioned to the dragon standing behind him, "and she passed that on to me. None of your ships have the nets and rigging for catching fish, and the eleven ships you figure can be patched up can't hold even half of your army. You can ration your remaining food and water for a week, but that's nowhere near enough time to sail to a port and secure and bring back supplies and additional ships. Even before you die of thirst and hunger, you will lose more men to rioting before any help can arrive by ship. Your campaign against dragons will end here on the beach where you launched a foolish attack and were betrayed by Drago."

His lilting expression turned sullen and he let out a sigh. "As much as I don't like what you're doing, I don't want to see more people die."

Tord could only stare in disbelief.

"You'll just have to accept this and move on," Valka said with a grin.

Tord narrowed his eyes. "We could always eat the dragons and drink their blood."

Hiccup rolled his eyes. "My tribe has been enduring raids for three hundred years before I ended all that. You think we never tried that? I know, it sounds very manly, but don't tell me you're ignorant of what that stuff does to your insides if you ever manage to choke it down. Dying in peace is so much better than that sort of torture."

"So, what, you're offering to use these dragons to fetch us food and water from the nearest port?"

Valka grinned and asked, "Would you drink water and eat food given to you by a dragon?"

Tord scratched the back of his neck uncomfortably.

"And no," Hiccup said as he started pacing back and forth, "at least not immediately. These dragons have agreed to join me in taking down Drago and his Bewilderbeast. _Then_ I will come back with aid. Berk isn't that far away by air, so you'll see us again within a week's time."

Tord scoffed. "You can't possibly expect me to give you what you want only for the far-fetched hope that you'll come back with help. And What if Drago prevails over you again? Last I saw, his boot was resting on your cheek."

The boy's fingers curled into fists and his face reddened. Valka looked like she was about to attack, as foolish as that would be. Then, almost in unison, they both took a deep breath and relaxed their stance again.

"You should give us those dragons," Valka ground out, "because you gain nothing by keeping them, but you have some hope of making it off this glacier if you cooperate."

"I say give 'em the dragons," one of the Viking soldiers shouted out.

"Hold your tongue," Tord snapped at him. He turned to the riders. "If your dragons bring us their weight in food, and you send them to bring back barrels of freshwater, then I think I may agree to this."

The two riders looked at each other. "Not while Drago is advancing on my home," Hiccup said. "There's that half-eaten whale off the coast on the far side. Meatlug and Grump can drag it over to the beach. Not the tastiest fare, but that would tide you guys for a long time."

"I have freshwater inside mountain," Valka said, pointing at the sanctuary behind her. She smiled at Hiccup's surprised look. "Always prepared, son." Turning back to Tord, she said, "Freshwater collects in cistern, but it's frozen. Bring men and axes. Dragons will clear a way and you walk to it. Melt ice with wood from wrecked ships."

Tord pondered that for a moment. Though he wouldn't admit it to these barbaric heathens, the shortage of food and water was a very big issue. If they really did follow through on their bargain, he would happily allow some more of the flying devils loose if it meant he and his soldiers could live on to continue their mission.

Finally, he said, "I would need some insurance that you will fulfil your word. I will hold you here while your fellow riders and dragons fulfil your promise."

Hiccup frowned. "I suppose one of us will have to trust the other to fulfil his end of the bargain, but I won't risk you delaying us any more, knowing that my tribe will soon be under attack." He spun around with his mother and started retreating towards the dragon. "Good day," he said over his shoulder.

"Wait!" Tord called out. The riders stopped and slowly turned. Tord paused in hesitation, silently cursing himself for being manipulated so easily to play into the rider's favor. Hiccup was right about the captured dragons having zero value aside from bargaining for supplies. Even if he threatened violence should the riders leave him, aside from going against his word, it would also lead to retaliation from all the other riders and dragons, and more of his men would die for nothing.

He said, "Give me your word that you will immediately deliver the food and freshwater you promised and that you will not leave until you have done so."

Hiccup thought for a moment. "We can drag the whale up to the beach, but the dragons will lack the strength to roll it onto land and I don't want to exhaust them, so you will need to use ropes and spears to secure it to something solid."

"And send men with axes to North side of mountain," Valka said. "I show where freshwater ice is. You get it yourself."

Tord thought on that and stuck out his hand. "I will release your dragons when you will do that."

Hiccup froze for a moment. "I swear on my life, assuming you release them immediately," Tord withdrew his hand. "They will help us get you food and water and I can promise they will not harm you or your men," Hiccup quickly amended.

Tord slowly extended his hand, but he paused in thought. "I would like to send someone with you, too, so I can get an accurate account of the events and what happens to Drago and his dragons.

Valka scoffed. "So you can stab us in back? Shoot arrow at us while in heat of combat?"

"Not me," Tord insisted. "I am a pious man, and I fight for the Lord. I can send him unarmed if you swear him no harm."

Hiccup and Valka looked at each other. "We could use another rider," the boy said. Turning to Tord, he said, "So, let me get this straight. You want to send one of your soldiers with me, riding our _accursed dragons_ ," he said that bit with thick sarcasm, "and unarmed, just so you can hear about what goes down on Berk? I'll be flying back here afterwards, anyway, to..." He drifted off, clearly uncomfortable sharing whatever there was to do on this miserable slab of ice.

"And who would you choose to stick his head in the lion's mouth?" one of his soldiers sneered.

Tord noticed a few of the Vikings in his company had contemplative looks on their faces, as if they would be crazy enough to volunteer. He did not feel comfortable sending one of the heathen soldiers as he could hardly count on them more than this boy and his mother, and he realized that it would not be right to ask a man of faith to ride a demon. Besides, how would he get back from Berk? Fly a dragon back and just pray the riders don't chase him down and reclaim their mount?

Realizing his blunder, Tord stuck out his hand again and said, "Nevermind that. We'll release these eight dragons and then you will immediately get us the food and water you mentioned. That is all. Agreed?"

Hiccup smiled and clasped his hand. "Agreed."

* * *

 **A/N:  
** Thanks for reading and thank you Colorful Crayola for being my beta buddy! FYI, I plan to take a break for a bit. Maybe three weeks. I got some catching up to do, but I got some interesting twists coming up.

JustANormalHTTYDFan, thanks for dropping a line! Yeah, we're gonna see a downside to a dragon's flawless memory.

Guest, sorry I made you want to punch me in the face. Alright, that's a bit of a lie, but things will get a lot better, I promise.

Toothlessgolfer, Hmm, when I had mentioned a subtle hint as to how Drago could ride Toothless, I never thought of your interpretation that Toothless was just trying to distance himself from the rider he almost killed. I like it, though, and someone should totally do a fanfic going down that road!

Also, I'm glad I'm not the only one who wasn't buying the plan to just ride baby dragons back to Berk. Gobber's right butt-cheek is bigger than the baby dragon he rode in the movie for crying out loud!

Dragonrider's Fury, YES! I get a 10! Oh, happy da- *BIFF* Ow, my face!


	20. Departed

**Departed**

Astrid tittered as her dragon laboriously took off into flight. She cawed plaintively, making known her disposition about the weight she had to carry.

"Auck! Knock it off, lass," Gobber said. "It ain't no laffin' matter."

Astrid immediately sobered up much to Gobber's relief. Gobber would have found her little jab at his girth bearing down on a dragon to be funny in any _other_ situation, but not here and now. Hardly a moment after finding him peg-legging it back to the battle and telling him about his dead friend and chief was not the appropriate time for humor.

"Sorry," Astrid said over her shoulder. Her knuckles whitened and her elbows shook as she attempted to crush the saddle handholds into dust. "I… I guess it hurts less to try not to think about it."

"I can't believe the bugger's really been offed like that," Gobber said. He knew she'd be fine, though, having endured heartbreaking loss before. "We'll avenge him, lass."

A shadow fell over Gobber and his eyes snapped up. "Grump!" he shouted enthusiastically.

The Hotburple dragon dove in and a quick hip-bump from the Nadder sent Gobber airborne for an instant before he was sprawled over the head of Grump, whose tongue was gleefully lolling out the side of his mouth.

"So, how _did_ you and Grump get separated in the first place?" Astrid asked.

Both rider and dragon suddenly avoided eye contact with Astrid… and each other. "It's, uhhh, a long story," Gobber said. Astrid gave him a sidelong look. "All right, not long, but, uhhh… Hey! Look! There's people and stuff on the beach down there!"

Below them, Hiccup was waving Gobber and Astrid in to land near him at a marginally comfortable distance from the army. Snotlout and the twins were crafting a makeshift sling to secure the body of Stoick to the dragon's belly so that the entire tribe could be there to send him off properly. Even wrapped up in blankets and furs, to keep his body frozen and preserved during the trip, the lack of a head was sickeningly obvious.

Gobber clenched his fists and trembled in anger at Drago for doing this, but he immediately relaxed when Hiccup leaped at him and hugged him fiercely.

"Sorry I wasn't there fer ya," Gobber said.

"My fault, not yours," Hiccup said, clearly trying to fight a new wave of tears. "I… I miss him. I miss them both."

It took Gobber a moment to realize who "them" was, aside from Stoick. "Toothless will be fine," he said.

"But what if he's not?" Hiccup asked. "I lost him."

"Bah!" Gobber waved it off dismissively. "That which is lost can always be found." He held Hiccup at arms-length and fixed him with a stare. "Toothless is fine. Ye'll git him back, and he'll be the world's happiest dragon when ya do."

"But…" Hiccup's eyes wandered over towards a large scrap of black leather.

Gobber looked back at Hiccup, clearly at a loss of its significance. "Drago's cape, right?" he asked.

Hiccup nodded sadly. "It's the hide from a Night Fury. The original scent was washed away from the tanning process and nobody can recognize it."

Gobber nodded. "I'm sorry for the dragon, but what's this to do with Toothless?"

"Drago will need a new cape."

Gobber thought on that for a moment. "Bah!" he eventually said. "Drago left ya alive on purpose and took off on Toothless. He won't kill Toothless because he wants ta torture you like that. Let that give ya hope."

Hiccup forced a smile at that. "Thanks," he said. There was a pause as he took a deep breath to steady himself, and he went on to say, "On to business, Gobber, mind if I borrow your dragon for a moment? We made an agreement with their admiral," he jerked a thumb over his shoulder," and I was counting on Grump to help drag a half-eaten whale carcass to shore."

"He's all yours!" Gobber said with a friendly slap to his dragon's side. "In fact, ya can keep 'im!"

Grump shoved Gobber, who shoved him back with a hearty laugh, then the dragon took off along with Meatlug. Gobber noticed a group of soldiers walking towards the base of the icy mountain, where Valka was waving them over. Standing next to her was a Raincutter, which was acting as her new dragon until Cloudjumper was rescued from Drago's Bewildebeast. Behind her, two Nadders - whose fire even water could not douse - were carving out a passageway towards what could only be Valka's frozen freshwater reservoir that Astrid had mentioned, and Stormfly was flying off to join them. Initially, Gobber was concerned for Valka's safety, but it seemed the soldiers knew better than to bite the hand that feeds them or invoke the wrath of the combined riders and dragons.

"Yer doing it again, lad," Gobber said to Hiccup.

"Doing what?" Hiccup asked distractedly.

"Turning yer enemies into allies." He gestured to the group. "I mean, look at 'em, like ducks in a row, suckling on our dragons' teats."

Hiccup gave Gobber a flat stare. "There are at least three things about what you said that are just plain wrong." He then rushed at Gobber to give him another hug. "I really am glad to see you again."

"Likewise," Gobber said. He noticed someone with very well-trimmed facial hair approaching from Drago's army. The man appeared to be a high-ranking official, dressed in heavy furs on top of plate mail, and wearily watching the dragons. "Who's that?" he asked.

"Oh, that's Turd," Tuffnut casually said.

"It's Tord!" the man snapped as he strode up to the group. To Tuffnut, he said, "Bite your tongue, child, or I will do things far worse to it. Even a fool, when he holds his peace, is counted as wise."

"What do you want, Tord?" Hiccup asked with an air of longsuffering. "We have the Gronckle and Hobblegrunt dragging the whale to the beach and you can see we're making good on the promise of fresh water."

Tord nodded and said, "You're a man of your word, Hiccup, I'll give you that. I have a request that will only benefit you. I want to join you."

Hiccup stared for a moment. He then proceeded to pick up his jaw from the ground and said, "You want to fly out with us?"

"Yes."

"On a dragon."

"... Yes. You have five with no riders, by my count. You mentioned that they could not go with you because a rider is needed to protect a dragon from Drago's Bewilderbeast. You also said you could never have too many dragons for your plan."

"And what is the plan, anyway?" Fishlegs asked.

Hiccup said, "It all comes down to getting Toothless free. He once told me that, way back when he was shipped off to the Red Death's nest, a Hooligan idly rested his hand on Toothless' head. I think it was Toenail. Anyway, dragons see our thoughts as chaotic and muddy - with our sense of imagination that they inherently lack - hence why we can scramble the mind control and free them. Toothless amplified Toenail's projections, and with all those sensor lobes on his head to project loud and clear, it was enough to shake those dragons free."

"Except those dragons were already quite exhausted and the Red Death was quite distracted and enraged," Ruffnut threw in.

"And how do we even get Toothless back?" Tuffnut asked. "Drago has too many dragons to just plow through."

Hiccup grinned. "Remember The Trial?" They nodded. "Now multiply by a hundred. If we take even a third of Drago's dragons out of the equation, I think I can get Toothless back, and we can turn things around."

Fishlegs' fingers turned into a mass of writhing worms as he mumbled, "But… Oh, so then…" He beamed. "That just might work! I'm suddenly very scared and excited all at once."

"I'm assuming nothing you said is supposed to make sense?" Tord snapped at Hiccup. "What is this trial thing anyway?"

Hiccup shrugged. "I'll tell you later, but for now, you really want to ride a dragon?" he asked, his eyebrows scrunched.

"I wouldn't exactly call that a safe move," Fishlegs said.

"Maybe if he was disarmed…" Snotlout drawled out.

"And tied!" Tuffnut crowed. Ruffnut threw in, "And gagged!"

Hiccup waved them all off and asked Tord, "Why? You said that all dragons are evil demons. I disagree, but you're entitled to your own convictions. Explain yourself."

Tord shuffled uncomfortably and scratched his wrists nervously. Finally, he said, "The work of a righteous man is godly, no matter what tool he holds. The righteous and the unrighteous both use swords, and even King David beheaded Goliath with his own blade. Drago has betrayed my trust. He has insulted the living God for whom I live. I will be part of Drago's downfall. He is influenced by Satan. In fact, I suspect that he sold his very soul to the devil. It would be the Lord's will to take him down."

"You want to nix Drago? Get in line," Hiccup grumbled. "Besides, you're their leader." He gestured to the army. "Why wouldn't you send someone else?"

"What kind of leader would order his men to a task that he himself is unwilling to perform?" Tord shot back

"That's a noble thought," Gobber said, "but impractical. A leader needs ta lead. Yer people would need ya ta maintain order and keep their spirits up."

Tord stared at the ground. "The chain of command exists for a reason. My second is just as qualified to get these men back home. Besides, since I want to be assured of Drago's demise, and I've spent quite some time around Drago, learning his tactics and tendencies..." he spread his hands and let the conclusion hang since he could tell everyone made that leap of logic: a turncoat knows best where to strike.

"And you're probably not exactly the hero of the day today, having lost half your army with nothing to show for it because you trusted Drago?" Hiccup surmised. "More than the reasons you've stated, you fear for your life should you stay here and they mutiny."

"No." Tord scowled in a way that compellingly said, " _Yes."_

"Hmm, I never thought about _that_ ," Fishlegs said. "For Tord to be willing to ride a dragon implies that the threat to himself must be very real and imminent. And, from what I've read and heard about religion and war in the mainland, the pope himself probably sent Tord on his mission. So, if Tord reports back with nothing to show but heavy losses…" Fishlegs spread his hands. "He would need a resolution to Drago's betrayal of his trust or he may as well accept the life of a vagabond."

Tord irritably said, "Look, my reasons are my own. I'm offering my aid. I've planned and fought more battles than you've seen winters, boy."

"For all the good it's done for you," Snotlout jibed.

Tord was about to lay into him when a shadow and a hard blast of arctic wind heralded the arrival of Valka and her Rincutter. She hopped off and said, "I no like."

"You haven't even heard what I offered." Tord snapped.

Valka rolled her eyes. "Hookfang hear you and tell Raincutter who told me. You flee from army you betrayed by trusting Drago who betrayed you, but why should we harbor you? Common enemy not enough. You attack my home. Go now." She made a shooing motion. "Enjoy fruits of your labor. You die by own men. I watch."

"Mom!" Hiccup scolded.

Tord stared at Valka with a slack-jawed expression, clearly surprised that she was caught up with a conversation for which she was not present. Eret said with a grin, "This is something you'll just have to accept and move on."

"I think this could be made to work," Hiccup slowly said as he turned it over in his mind. "Assuming one of the five dragons will allow it, of course."

"Are you sure?" Valka asked. "Remember last time you tried this, with Drago."

Hiccup flinched. "The only reason we landed was because Toothless couldn't say 'No'."

"Then again, when has Toothless ever approved of _any_ of Hiccup's plans?" Tuffnut asked.

"And usually for very good reasons," Astrid threw in. She gave a pat to her dragon, who hopped over to stand behind Hiccup. "Speaking of which, you're riding Stormfly until you get Toothless back. You'll need a saddle you can strap into, Mr. peg leg."

"But she's _your_ dragon," Hiccup contested. "You can't just-"

He faltered when Astrid swung herself up onto another Nadder, who bounced from foot to foot, testing the balance.

"I guess she can just," Gobber said. "I've told you a thousand times, lad, never argue with a woman."

Hiccup smiled at Astrid. "Then if I can't argue with you, I think we're agreed that our dragons are better than me at deciding who can be trusted, so we're agreed that they should decide if Tord should be trusted to join us, right?" Without waiting for a response, he said, "Good!"

He waved in the five riderless dragons from Valka's sanctuary that were freed from the traps. "Dragons," he said in a projecting voice of one speaking to a crowd, "We initially planned on leaving you behind, as you have no rider, to take care of the flightless hatchlings left behind in the sanctuary. This man here," he gestured to Tord, "has never ridden a dragon but is willing to give it a shot. If four is enough to handle the hatchlings, do we have any volunteers to take him as your rider for the next couple days and fly out with us?"

Tord slowly shook his head. "I'm wasting my time," he said. "You riders are crazy, all of you, talking to dragons like they're people."

"More like talking to people like they're dragons," Tuffnut said.

Eret grinned at Tord and said, "You sound like me a couple of days ago, oh ye of little faith."

"Don't quote scripture out of context!" Tord snapped. "Fools read a couple of verses and think… they…" He faltered as a Nightmare, Nadder, Gronckle, Zippleback, and Thunderclaw all hopped forward in unison to surround him, pacing and sniffing, and he pulled his sword halfway out of its scabbard. "What are they doing?" he squeaked in surprise.

"I believe they're sniffing you," Hiccup said in a bored tone. "Keep your sword sheathed. You don't want to provoke a fight. Don't forget, you came to us, and if you don't like being around us, nobody is constraining you to stay."

Ruffnut poked the snout on one of the Zippleback heads and said, "And you can't go, sorry dude. I know your heads are connected, but it doesn't work with only one rider. Just ask BB."

Tord re-sheathed his sword, slapping the hilt against the top of the scabbard. Gobber couldn't suppress a chuckle as the dragons continued their examination, sniffing and prodding.

The Nightmare swept her tail across the ground, knocking Tord's legs out from under him. He sprang back up, hand on the hilt of his sword.

"What was that?!" he shouted.

"It looks like she knocked you down," Snotlout said with a roll of his eyes. "Duh."

"But why?" Tord demanded.

"I think she wanted to see how you reacted to getting knocked down," Tuffnut said.

"In the literal sense," Ruffnut nonchalantly tossed in, "since we've already seen the figurative sense."

The Nightmare swept her tail across the ground again. This time, Tord jumped over it and landed with his sword in hand and a sharp reprimand on his tongue. The dragon stood motionless for a moment, looking at Tord, then she snorted and backed up a step.

"She says you can be her rider," Astrid said, stepping forward. Looking at Hiccup, she said, "So, we're really doing this? You do know this is crazy."

Hiccup grinned. "I left crazy so far behind that I forgot what it looks like." Turning to Tord, he said, "Alright, so here's what's gonna happen. If you wish to fly with us, I will require you to take an oath that you will not betray the trust she's placing on you."

"If it'll let me ride it, what's to stop me from jumping on its back and flying off right now?" Tord demanded.

" _Please_!" Snotlout insisted, grandly gesturing with his arm for Tord to mount up. "I wanna see this!"

Hiccup shrugged. "Be my guest and try." He turned to the dragon and said, "Don't let him call you 'it' anymore; we need to train that out of him. In fact, we need a name for you." He thought for a moment. "How about 'Intrepid'? What you're doing really is quite brave."

Tord sighed. "I don't care what you name it-"

WHACK!

The dragon slapped him with her tail.

" _She_ is not an _it_ ," Hiccup said. "And I was asking her, not you. She likes her new name, so you can call her Intrepid from now on. Now, let's have you take an oath so we can get going."

Tord looked around at the other riders and found nobody offering any alternative. He said, "Why should I take an oath on behalf of a _dragon_? What, is _it_ -"

WHACK!

He rubbed his stinging shoulder and glared at the dragon. "This oath idea is stupid. You love your dragons, I get it, but it's not like this thing can-"

WHACK!

Tord took a hop away. "Fine! It's not like _she_ can return the oath. This is all so stupid. You're all crazy."

Hiccup tersely said. "This is an oath I've had other wannabe riders and dragons take before their first flight together, and it seems to help both parties. She will take her oath first so you have time to gather your wits and courage."

He placed a hand on the Nightmare's snout and snagged up Tord's hand. Tord looked back at the army from which he was fleeing, weighing his options once more, then he looked back towards Hiccup and the dragon, slowly shaking his head.

In an officious tone, Hiccup said, "All right, Intrepid, once Tord makes his vow, I charge you to regard him as your equal. You will protect his life with your own. You will take care of his needs as you would take care of your own. Until either we defeat Drago or he defeats us, will you swear on the shell that hatched you and the dragon who laid it that you will uphold this vow? Since your rider cannot hear you, indicate 'Yes' by stomping your right foot twice, your left foot once, and then slap your tail against the ground three times."

THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

WHAP! WHAP! WHAP!

Tord stared at the dragon in a stunned stupor as she finished the gesture and said, "No... way…"

"Now, your turn," Hiccup said to Tord.

Tord shook himself back to the present. "What, make a vow to a dragon? A demon? Are you crazy?"

Hiccup shrugged. "Maybe I am." He mounted on Stormfly's back and started strapping himself in as he idly said, "If you can't do it, then we'll be going. Don't have time to coddle you all day long. Good-bye!"

As Stormfly curled her legs to launch into the sky, Tord shouted, "Wait!" Hiccup slowly turned and Tord clenched his fists. "What is this vow I need to take?"

Hiccup said, "Same as the dragon made to you. Place your hand on the dragon's snout. I charge you to regard Intrepid as your equal. You will protect her life with your own. You will take care of her needs as you would take care of your own. Until either we defeat Drago or he defeats us, will you swear on the name of your gods - err, god - that you will uphold this vow?"

Tord looked like a kicked puppy as he said, "I will." Under his breath, he muttered, "This is _so humiliating_!"

"Good!" Hiccup said as he straightened up. "And don't worry. Even though you're doing this only to preserve your life and regain some honor, Intrepid knows this is very hard for anyone to accept so suddenly and she's very proud of you."

Tord muttered, "Great, now I'm being patronized by a crazy pagan."

Technically, you're being patronized by a dragon," Fishlegs said.

Hiccup clapped his hands once and said, "Oh, Snotlout, since Tord will need some training on the job, and he's riding a Nightmare…"

"No!" the burly rider groaned.

"I'll need you to-"

"No!"

Hiccup put his hands on his hips. "Aww, c'mon, it won't be that bad."

Snotlout fell to his knees. "Noooooooo!" He rose up and pointed to his own dragon, then at Tord. "Hookfang, do something! Annihilate!"

Hookfang gathered some fuel at the back of his throat and looked straight at his rider, who pointed a finger at him and said, "Don't you even _think_ about setting my arse on fire again, Mister!"

The dragon lowered his head and looked like a child who had his toy taken away.

Snotlout vaulted onto his dragon and said to Tord, "Just don't expect sunshine and rainbows, maggot. I'm carrying the-" the dragon grumbled. "Fine," he rolled his eyes, " _Hookey_ is carrying the body of my uncle who was killed by your boss. If I ever have to repeat myself, you will not survive this trip. Do we have an understanding?"

"Snotlout," Hiccup started to object, but Tord looked at Snotlout and said, "Understood."

With that settled, everyone mounted their dragons. As Stormfly curled her haunches to take off, Hiccup looked over at Tord, whose face was pale as he settled on his dragon's neck, and said, "You'll have to learn on the fly, Tord, but remember these two things. Hold on tight and don't fall off."

Tord screamed as they shot into the sky and Snotlout guffawed at his terror. Gobber couldn't help but smile at it all.

########

* * *

########

Tord always thought himself to be a brave man. Carry out campaigns for the holy emperor and the Pope? Just make it happen. Dealing with bandits? Simple. Facing down horsemen and chariots with infantry armed only with swords, shields, and spears? Child's play!

Riding a dragon to dizzying heights and looking _down_ on the clouds was something simply out of his league. _No mortal man should be up here_ , he kept telling himself. _This is the tower of Babel_. The part where Snotlout's dragon grabbed Tord by the shoulders and lifted him off his dragon "So she can splashdown in the ocean and wash your vomit off" didn't help at all.

Now that he was sitting on the neck of the Monstrous Nightmare once again, he tried to focus on the things immediately around him to calm his nerves and stomach. The freezing wind whipped furiously past him and he could only imagine how long ago his nose and ears would have frozen and fallen off if Hiccup didn't talk him into wearing an arctic helmet. The large twin horns of the dragon, clenched in his white-knuckled fingers, were a godsend; Holding onto them was the one useful piece of advice Snotlout deigned to throw his way. With the way the clouds moved past, it looked like he was rapidly sailing over them, far above the sparkling water-

Tord gagged at the thought of how far down he could fall and started to dry-heave.

Off to the side, Snotlout said, "Thank the gods you're all empty. If you puked on Intrepid _again_ , I'd have to hack off your legs to lighten the load before Hookfang would be willing to carry you again."

"Yeah!" the crazy female twin on the Zippleback shouted. "And then we'd hit you with your own leg so that you'd be literally kicking your own butt."

Snotlout gave her a dreamy look and said, "Ah, Ruffnut, you're so clever. Literally stole the words right out of my mouth."

Ruffnut made a gagging face and turned away to face Eret, tongue flicking against her upper lip as she reached out longingly for him. Eret urgently hissed to his dragon, "Grunt, save me, please!" and the dragon drifted away to settle in next to Tord. He stroked his dragon's neck and said, "Thanks!"

Tord glowered at Eret, who shrugged.

"You used to be on a more righteous path," Tord said. "Oh, how low you have fallen to willingly fly a dragon."

"And you're not?" Eret shot back.

"I had no other choice!" Tord said in annoyance.

"Ha!" Eret crowed. "I knew it! Your soldiers actually _did_ mutiny, or at least you knew they were going to."

It was true and Tord knew there was no point in trying to deny it anymore. There were widespread murmurings against him when he told his men that they would be allying themselves with Drago. The allure of a man who could summon dragons to him from a distance without having to hunt them down one by one was too great to turn down. Now that Drago had betrayed them, Tord could feel it in the air that there would certainly be a mutiny, and he would not survive it. He was fortunate that they accepted his hasty resignation with some dignity and that he was able to leave the island while they were still debating which of the unit commanders should take over.

"Yes," he said in annoyance, "I was forced to ride a dragon or die, but unlike me, you weren't forced to ride dragons. You _chose_ to ride them, just like these other heathens. I will make my supplications for this, but even Daniel lived righteously in Nebuchadnezzar's court. You, on the other hand, go gallivanting around, tempting everyone around you to sin."

"And why is it a sin?" Fishlegs demanded as his dragon slid closer. "Dragons used to raid us, but now they're as peaceful as could be, more so than you and your lot."

Tord ground out, "It's a sin because dragons are demons. The holy scripture tells of how the devil took the form of a dragon to kill the Messiah." He gestured to all the dragons flying through the sky. "And these are his devil spirits."

"Doesn't the scripture also refer to the devil as a snake?" Eret asked. "Maybe just an error in translation."

Tord rolled his eyes. "A pitiful excuse for a pitiful sinner. How about the war in Heaven, when the archangel Michael fought against the dragons? Or how the scripture tells that the flood in the days of Noah was caused by dragons? They are soulless creatures in the thrall of devil spirits. Only today I learned that riding a dragon improves its temperament, but that only shows that even a sinner, though far from being godly, is more righteous than the devil."

The Monstrous Nightmare on which he rode snorted and thrashed for a moment. Tord squeaked in surprise and held on with a death grip, saying, "Shhhh. Calm. Be calm. Shh shh shhhh." It seemed to work.

Hiccup settled in nearby and said, "Intrepid really doesn't know what to make of you. She really wants to throw you off, were it not for her vow, but she still feels as though she can trust you when it matters."

"I speak only the truth that I have read for myself," Tord said, "and God protects His people. Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for the Lord is my strength. This dragon can sense my confidence just like any other beast of Earth. I have nothing to fear."

Hiccup smiled and said, "Don't hold your breath that you'll convert us, but I can respect you for flying out with us. It is my hope that we can be companionable despite our different upbringings, now that you're not working for Drago."

"I did not work _for_ him!" Tord snapped. "He was a convenient ally. Until his betrayal, that is."

"I did try to warn you," Eret said.

"I figured you were just bitter because he branded you for letting him down."

Eret shouted, "The Drago I've known most my life would not… have…" he drifted off and shrunk inwardly. Tord knew that Eret had been trapping for Drago for years, but the notion that their history extended much farther back was disturbing news.

Hiccup, suddenly staring at Eret with keen interest, asked, "You've known Drago a long time? What, did you grow up with him or something like that?"

Eret flinched and remained silent.

Hiccup said, "Eret, I see you flying out with us, and that's all that matters to me. If you have anything on Drago, it might help. I won't be upset about what happened in the past."

Eret heaved a sigh and said, "We were childhood friends." He paused as everyone gasped. "He was the chief's heir, big, strong, brave, wholly dedicated himself to train and learn the ropes of taking over for his father. I was always pulling him away from his training to go explore the woods-"

"None of this matters!" Tord said. "We're going to kill him, and it will be a service to humanity."

Eret raised his hands placatingly and said, "No argument here, but I was only answering Hiccup's question."

"When do you think Drago turned so spiteful and evil?" Fishlegs asked.

"Probably when he sold his soul to the devil," Tord muttered.

Eret scratched his chin for a moment. "Hmm, that's... not an easy question. Drago has always been one to command respect. Well, more like an awed sort of fear. I once watched as he tamed a Nightmare. The dragon spooked and bit down on his leg. Didn't even phase him. He thrust the tip of his bullhook through the base of its neck, used it as a lever to angle the head, and punched it right in the eye. He then kicked its snout - with the very leg it bit - as if it was nothing. The dragon hissed and thrashed, but Drago just stared it down into submission."

Gobber said, "That can't… No, sorry, I just can't believe that." He gestured to his peg leg. "I speak from experience."

"I'd believe it could have happened," Tord said. "It reminds me of a record in the scriptures of a man possessed by devil spirits that called themselves Legion for their multitude. He dwelled in the mountains, among the tombstones, crying, shouting, wailing. People tried to bind him and restrain him, but he broke every chain and fetter. Nothing could stop him, even though he always cut himself with sharp stones, desperate to end his suffering but impotent nonetheless."

Hiccup made a disgusted face and said, "The poor man. I sure hope this story is only a metaphor."

Tord shook his head and allowed a slight smile at his captive audience. "It happened, but there is a happy ending. Jesus, my lord and savior, commanded the devil spirits to depart. He allowed them to enter into a herd of two thousand swine, and they all stampeded off the edge of a cliff and drowned in the sea."

At that last part, Tord scanned all the dragon around him, and he could tell that Hiccup got the message. In his eyes, all these dragons, and Drago himself, were unwitting extensions of the will of Legion.

"Well, I don't think Drago did anything like that," Eret said. "He was a good man, but in becoming what he is today… Well, I'll admit it sort of snuck up on me. I mean, I saw the changes over the past few months, but I suppose I should have seen it coming, considering what he's been through."

"Such as the loss of his entire tribe," Hiccup said.

Eret stared in shock. "How did you know that?":

Hiccup shrugged. "Had a dream. Long story, but I don't know any details except that dragons attacked and one bit off his arm."

"I actually wasn't present that night," Eret said. "I was with a small hunting group a few islands over. We came back home to find nothing but smoke and death. Well, that and Drago. He told me what he saw, which was very little. The dragons attacked on a dark and cloudy night without warning. Their fireballs were aimed to kill as many people as possible. Men, women, children... nobody was safe. Nothing was sacred. There was no honor or mercy. Drago said one of them bit off his arm, but he managed to find a hidey-hole. He recovered and vowed that he would have his revenge."

The riders all paled, but Tord's face reddened as he declared, "This is why dragons cannot be allowed to continue existing! Simply by riding them, you make a mockery of everyone they killed."

Hiccup solemnly said, "I'm sorry, Eret. With how much you've lost, I truly am amazed that you could work past all that to accept a dragon." He held up a hand and said, "I swear on my life that you would never find a dragon a fraction as cruel. If I ever met one of those dragons, if they did so of their own volition and not because of the Red Death's mind control, I would not stand in the way of justice."

Eret shrugged. "Touching, but I wasn't there when the dragons attacked. Learning about it after the fact just didn't hit me as hard. I didn't have much family left, what with my mother dying giving me life and my father killed by a dragon long ago. Occupational hazard and all. Drago was there, though. That night changed him, I could see it in his eyes. He bent his entire being to seeking revenge. I suppose subjugating dragons was a sort of revenge he found more satisfying than killing them. Except for the Night Furies, of course. Toothless wasn't the first one he got his hands on, but he was the first Drago didn't immediately kill."

"But what does he have specifically against Night Furies?" Hiccup asked.

"When Drago told me about that dragon attack, he described a certain banshee shriek he heard preceding each fireball." Eret gave a solemn look at Hiccup. "I never actually heard it, though, until I saw your dragon."

Hiccup, hand still raised from his oath, went completely rigid.

* * *

 **A/N:  
** Thanks for reading and thank you Colorful Crayola for being my beta buddy.

Whew. I'm back. Finally. Let's get things rolling again.

Dragonrider's Fury, thank you for the very kind words. The teary-eyed drama scenes are the hardest for me to feel confident about posting, but I'm glad I didn't flub it.

Toothlessgolfer, your guess about Drago making a deal with the devil is spot-on, though I think I may still pull a surprise on ya. Hmm, sheep launchers… that gives me an idea. ;)


	21. Prepared

**Prepared**

"Hunter three, move up. Chief, move left. Traitor, take opponent hunter."

Fishlegs had been going on like this for quite some time as they flew over the clouds and Eret was only now starting to suspect that the boy was not simply mumbling to himself. "Fishlegs, what are you doing?" he asked.

"Playing Maces and Talons," the rotund rider said. "Helps calm my nerves."

Eret scratched his head. "Uhhhh… huh."

He looked over at Hiccup, who was riding Stormfly, for any clarification he might have to offer, but the boy was withdrawn on himself ever since he learned that Night Furies razed the village that Eret and Drago formerly called home. It wasn't Hiccup's fault, nor his dragon's. Hiccup had mentioned that Toothless was about as old as his rider, and given how long ago that raid occurred, the dragon would have hardly been hatched, if his egg was even laid by then. The only details Eret managed to extract from Hiccup was something about dragons name Tolerant and Firebrand, and some sort of vision or memory or something weird with his telepathic dragons.

It took Fishlegs a moment to realize Eret's confusion. "Oh, right, you're still really new to all this. Not only can dragons communicate by projecting their thoughts, they have an absolutely perfect memory. Hunter five, move up. Anyway, they can even remember cracking their own egg open, though there's not much to see or hear as their eyes and ear canals were still forming that early on. Meatlug showed me, once, and it was so weird. With only her sense of smell to go by, learning how to walk, or how to move her legs, or that she even _had_ legs, or that she had a body that could interact with the world around her, was really intense. It's like she-"

"And how does that let you play a board game without the board?" Eret cut in. He was quickly learning that Fishlegs could talk about any topic from sunrise until sunset, hardly even pausing for breath, unless someone intervened.

"Oh, well, you see - well, actually, you _don't_ see…" he took a moment to chuckle at what must have been a joke. "Meatlug is keeping track of the pieces on the board. Speaking of which, accomplice, move up and right. Anyway, she's really good at it, and once she sees any game board and the pieces involved, she can keep perfect track of where all the pieces are at any time. So, since I can't touch the pieces, I tell her what moves I want to make."

He looked studiously at the back of his dragon's head. "Hmmm, like… hunter three, take opponent hunter."

Once again, Eret felt that spinning sensation of his mind trying to grasp the concept of what the riders and their dragons were doing. "So, you're playing a board game in your mind," - something he's heard of people doing before - "but it's not in your own mind, but your dragon's?"

Fishlegs nodded. "Yeah. Meatlug loves holding our game board, so to speak. Dragons are as smart as us, but while they have a perfect memory, they have no sense of imagination, and they absolutely love watching the blind leaps in logic we make in trying to out-guess each other. They can't understand how we can see what was never before our eyes, hear what never made a noise, and think of things we never learned. That's how they put it, at least. Well, sorta. Ya know, they don't speak with words, so-"

"So you're playing against your dragon?" Eret asked. "How do you know she won't cheat and move some imaginary pieces on her imaginary game board?"

Fishlegs giggled at that, and then looked surprised at Eret's unamused look. "She'd never do that," he said. "Besides, cheating in a board game is like lying, and dragons don't lie because that's really an extension of one's imagination if you think about it. Dragons inherently lack that sort of creative talent, and they can smell a lie from a league away, so it's something they just don't do. That's actually an important factor in keeping the peace in the Archipelago. You see, Hiccup has held some open dragon training events that anyone from any tribe could participate in, so we now have dragon whispers among both allies and enemies, and-"

"So, you're playing against yourself? Sounds really boring."

"Nah. I'm playing against Astrid."

Astrid shouted over, "Who just pulled _your_ traitor in front of the dragon, and the dragon just crushed his rib cage, tore him to shreds, bit off his head, and ate it!"

Fishlegs grimaced. "Ugh. Do you have to project such gruesome imagery?"

"Death to the traitor!" Astrid roared.

"If that's a jab at me, I think it's unfair," Eret said.

"Mostly a jab at Mr. Holier Than Thou over there," Astrid said as her dragon settled in closer.

"Hunter five, take opponent traitor," Fishlegs said

"Yes!" Astrid shouted. "Take the traitor! Run him through! Spill his guts!"

"She usually doesn't get this riled up," Fishlegs said sheepishly. "Chief, move up."

Eret scratched his head and said, "Aren't you and Astrid supposed to alternate turns? How come she's made only one move so far?"

Fishlegs said, "She just does it without speaking, which I'm not so good at. Over the years, we've learned that boys have an easier time _hearing_ dragons while girls have an easier time _talking_ to them. Hunter four, move up. It helps me to speak what I'm trying to project. That's what dragons hear, after all, since they don't speak Norse, nor do they have any interest in our spoken or written languages. Speaking and writing is something they view as just projecting our thoughts into the air and onto parchment. You see, when you speak, as you come up with words to represent an idea you wish to communicate, without even knowing it, you naturally project-"

Astrid shouted, "Chief, take hunter! Kill him! Kill them all! Wipe them out! Make them pay! Bathe in his blood! Make the sea turn red!"

Eret quirked an eyebrow and said, "You do realize you're playing a game where the objective is for the hunters to take the dragon, right?"

"Best not to provoke her," Fishlegs squeaked.

"You riders are so strange," Eret said.

Fishlegs beamed at him. "Aww, thanks!"

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The sun had set as they flew on, then the stars twinkled above. They flew all through the night and Tord kept slapping his legs from the discomfort of sitting in one position for so long. His legs kept falling asleep, but his mind could not. It was a mercy that, unlike a horse, the dragon didn't roughly bounce up and down constantly. No, bouncing was only occasional, whenever they hit what Fishlegs called "turbulence" and the dragon's neck tried to shove Tord's knees into his forehead. At least, that was what it felt like to be tossed around and buffeted by a sudden gust of wind.

A few times, he had tried to turn his dragon aside to fly to an island he knew would have a port where he could secure a ship and supplies for his men - well, those who _were_ formerly his men - but the dragon kept its course.

After the third attempt, Astrid didn't even bother looking back when she said, "Try that one more time and see what happens. Please. Make my day."

Tord decided against making her day.

Looking around, he noticed that the twins had somehow managed to fall asleep. They were slung under their dragon's neck, arms and legs twined around it, snoring away. Every so often, turbulence would send them thrashing around, but it hardly phased them because they were tethered to their saddles.

Tord had voiced his worry at the dragons fatiguing, but Fishlegs assured him that the strong wind from the left flank was a great boon for their flight. The dragons could lock their wings and ride on the drafts, allowing for minimal effort to control their flight. The Gronckle and Hotburple were the exceptions, with their bee-like bodies, but he said they could fly for days without sleep so long as they had food.

Hiccup was still in a brooding mood ever since Eret mentioned that the island he and Drago came from was raided by a bunch of Night Furies. Drago seemed to have had a certain fascination with that species. Sailing up with Drago from Norway, his Bewilderbeast lured in a Night Fury. It was Tord's first time witnessing the true power that thing could exercise over other dragons. Drago used his Bewilderbeast to make the Night Fury stand on the deck while he casually used a knife to slice and peel the flesh off the dragon.

The thing roared and writhed in pain, survival instincts battling against the Bewilderbeast's control, but Tord watched in amazement as the Night Fury stood and allowed itself to be skinned alive. Well, he watched for a short time; he thought he had a stomach of iron, but even he could not continue to watch the show. However, a few days later, he noticed that Drago had a new cape to replace the old and worn out one - also Night Fury hide.

It was tempting to "tell a little story" to Hiccup to pass the time, but Tord felt that would be far crueler than even this heathen deserved. "Love thine enemies," the scriptures said, after all.

Eventually, the black of night started to fade and the sky brightened. Tord had to admit that the sunrise was quite beautiful when seen from above the clouds. As the sun started to peek over the horizon, red and pink shadows played across the tops of the clouds, illuminated from below.

 _No mortal man should see things like this_ , Tord told himself. _We are trespassing on the angels' domain._

Another thought came to mind. "Consider the fowls of the air," Jesus said. "How much more precious you are they!" Thinking on this lesson from so high up gave a new perspective. If the fowls of the air were beneath man, then maybe it wasn't blasphemous to see the world from a bird's eye view. Then again, maybe it was still wrong because man should not seek after the doings of the creatures that are beneath him.

Then again, the Holy Scripture also said to go to the ant, consider her ways, and be wise, who, having no overseer, provides meat in the summer and gathers in the harvest. If the ants could serve as an example for Man, and they are trodden underfoot…

 _But they are all God's creation_ , Tord reminded himself. _Dragons are not._

 _So, then, are the dragons among the fowls of the air? I'd imagine men would look like ants from up here..._

Tord shook himself back to the present. No matter the details, he would remain resolute in his task. It was in service to God that he fought in the Roman army and ascended the ranks to admiral. Even when he had allied himself with Drago, it was still in service to God, though he now realized the foolishness of his ways and the greed that had beset his heart. He was so blinded by the lure of the promise of a man who could make dragons fly to him, capture them, then use those captured dragons to capture even more. The plan was to let Drago go on a little longer, then kill all the dragons, but that clearly turned belly-up.

However, a hard victory demands a hard fight. Looking back on things, even though he lost the respect and loyalty of his soldiers, despite the chain of command, he really couldn't blame them. Still, even though he would have to remain on this dragon and this course, he could serve his God by taking down Drago. Then, he could sail back to Rome, atone for his sins, and it was almost a sure thing that he would be reinstated.

The Hotburple dragon buzzed up alongside and Gobber said, "Beautiful from up here, ain't it?"

Tord nodded. "All of God's creation is beautiful from any vantage point, child."

"Are ya tryin' to be nausiatin', or does that just come natural?"

Tord allowed a small chuckle at that. "Call it a knee-jerk reaction." They flew on in silence for a while. "So, after this is over, when Drago and his beast are dead, what would your chief do with me?"

Gobber jerked his one good thumb at Hiccup. "He's the next chief, so we both know the answer ta that. As long as ya keep yer arse on that dragon, yer helpin' us. We Hooligans don't forget those who helped us and we don't like bein' indebted to others."

Tord thought on that for a moment. "I'd ask if he'd give me a small ship that could handle the open sea, but I am alone with no crew. Do you think he'd…" Tord faltered, but his gaze drifted to the back of his dragon's head.

Gobber guffawed and said, "Sinner, sinner, come repent. Of all yer sins, cast off, relent." At a raised eyebrow from Tord, he casually said, "We've had yer kind on our island before. They were decent enough folk, but that was one of their favorite things to shout. Anyway, Hiccup doesn't _own_ Intrepid. She is her own master. One way or another, yer oaths to each other will conclude before the sun sets."

Tord shrugged. "I'll figure something out."

Gobber nodded and said, "Dun ya worry. We'll repay good deeds and git ya goin', maybe back to your fleet or at least hop on with a trader. We don't allow people to regret helping us." He gave Tord a stern stare. "And also, if ya have any twisted plan in that head of yers, if ya betray our trust, we are well-practiced at makin' our enemies feel as much regret an' pain as possible before we-"

"Riders!" Hiccup called out, holding a hand up, and all the dragons started flying in a circle to form a constantly spinning ring. "The dragons are saying that we're getting close to Drago's Bewilderbeast; they can start to feel the pressure of his mind. We're over halfway home, and I know of at least one island not too far ahead that has water. So, let's allow Drago's Bewilderbeast to pull a little farther ahead so our dragons can dive for fish."

Fishlegs explained that they would normally wait on some island or sea stack while their dragons fed, but they wanted to be cautious in case the Bewilderbeast turned around and controlled them all. What proceeded was a terrifying exercise in hopping from dragon to dragon. Each dragon that was relieved of a rider would dive down and come up with fish in its mouth. Then, they would take on a couple more riders, freeing other dragons to dive in without a rider. The Gronckle and Hotburple shot a fireball of magma into the water and free-fell in right after it like falling boulders. The result was that an entire school of dead fish started to float to the surface for the dragons to pluck up.

"I call it the aquatic shock attack," Fishlegs explained from where he sat on the Monstrous Nightmare's neck, behind Tord. "And to think we used to believe that dragons raided us because they couldn't feed themselves. You should see Toothless fishing with his fireball that explodes with a concussive shockwave. He and Meatlug have perfected this fishing routine where Meatlug belly-flops in and Toothless shoots a fireball right on top of her. It explodes underwater, but he times it just right so it hits that pocket of air from Meatlug's entry, and the fish are blasted out of the water and literally rain down. And then Meatlug would-"

Tord casually shifted around, sticking an elbow in the rider's stomach. "That's really interesting," he said in a distracted tone.

After a short stretch of silence that Tord found relaxing but made Fishlegs squirm, the Gronckle took position just below and Fishlegs jumped down.

They all descended and settled down by a small lake on an island that was basically a tall mountain sticking out of the water. The terrain was far too rough for habitation, but they managed to find a fairly level clearing. The riders dismounted and filled their water skins before the dragons slurped up their fill, then they collected firewood and made a fire to cook some of the fish the dragons caught and hadn't eaten. Hiccup and Astrid established a watch rotation. This would be more of a power nap than a proper sleep.

It was only then that Tord realized he had no bedding. In his haste to flee, all he had was his heavy furs over his gambeson and plate mail. Well, he also had his sword, dagger, and ankle knife. Given that he was their enemy only a day ago, he was initially confused that they allowed this, but then he realized why it didn't matter to them. In the air, he was at the mercy of the dragon and harming the beast would only lead to his own demise. Even here on land, he was effectively trapped without the dragon to fly him away, and the dragons were nauseatingly loyal to Hiccup and seemed to obey him.

It was only now that Tord started to dwell on what he was actually doing. He was allying himself with another Drago, another dragon master. This time, though, it was out of necessity instead of a shortcut to victory, and instead of a Bewilderbeast, Hiccup relied on people riding dragons to command them. It brought Tord some small measure of relief that, if he was betrayed again, at least he didn't have hundreds of soldiers who would suffer as a result.

"So, how do we stay warm when we sleep?" Tord asked Snotlout. He gestured to the riders finishing their fish fried on a stone. "I don't see anyone else with any bedding." He gestured to the snow falling on them. "Surely you wouldn't sleep in your furs; you'd freeze as your heart slows down and you'd get covered in snow and ice."

All Snotlout said was, "Anywhere above where the wing joins the body. Dragons like to cover their heads when they sleep as a self-defense mechanism." He then proceeded to crawl under the wing of his Monstrous Nightmare, which was curled up tight on its side. Looking around, the other riders were doing likewise with their dragons.

Tord looked over at his dragon, which curled up and flicked its snout in a terse gesture before covering its neck and head with its wings.

"There is no way you actually expect me to snuggle up with a dragon like that!" he told Snotlout. However, all he heard in answer was snoring.

He looked up at Ruffnut, who was first on watch, but she pointedly ignored him. His dragon started to snore next to him.

"Just… great." he muttered.

He curled up to sleep by the dying fire and dreamed that he was freezing to death until he crawled into a warm cave.

########

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########

Hiccup woke up with a start and looked around. Stormfly had her wings enfolded around him and her head was tucked in to lick his face. He wiped at the saliva as he crawled out from underneath. The sun hadn't dropped all that far. It was more like a short nap than a proper sleep, but it would have to be enough.

Time was fleeting, and nothing would deter him.

Hiccup hopped up on Stormfly and she chittered as she tilted her head to look back at him through her left eye. _{You land-striders never cease to perplex and amuse me.}_

Hiccup shrugged and soothingly scratched her snout. "Sorry, girl. I wish I could figure out how to stop projecting my dreams."

The rest mounted up and they all flew onward to Berk. As they drew close, they saw Drago riding Toothless, surrounded by his dragon army. His Bewilderbeast stood below, tail-end in the water and front webbed feet on the cliff tops of the village.

Hiccup urged Stormfly closer, heedless of the thousands of dragons swarming around. They settled into a hover in front of Toothless.

"Toothless?" Hiccup meekly called out to his dragon. No response. "It's me," he said consolingly. "I'm right here, Bud. Come back to me."

Drago let out a low laugh. "He's not _yours_ anymore. He belongs to the alpha. But, please, oh great dragon master," he rolled his eyes at that, "try to take him. He will not miss a second time."

Hiccup edged Stormfly a little closer so that they were nose-to-nose. He knew he could get through to Toothless. "It wasn't your fault, Bud. They _made_ you do it."

He slowly reached his hand out, yearning to touch his dragon again. Toothless faltered for a moment. He shook his head vigorously and his eyes softened for an instant before they hardened into slit pupils again. Hiccup could practically feel the war raging inside his dragon's head. Below, the Bewilderbeast shifted and the spines on his face rattled fervently to bring Toothless back under his yoke.

"You'd never hurt him," Hiccup said, thinking of his father. Toothless would remember that moment for the rest of his life. Hiccup dared to stretch his arm out. "You'd never hurt _me_."

His palm flattened against Toothless' snout. The dragon's eyes softened and his teeth retracted. Through the contact, Hiccup could feel his best friend shaking off the shackles of the Bewilderbeast. A torrential rush of projections washed over Hiccup, but he could tell that his dragon was relieved to know he was forgiven and still loved.

"How are you doing that?" Drago asked in bewilderment.

"Please, you are my best friend, Bud," Hiccup said, staring into his dragon's eyes. "My. Best. Friend."

Toothless shook his head and Hiccup could tell that the Bewilderbeast's grip on his mind had completely failed. Hiccup smiled wide as his dragon gave him a gummy grin.

"ENOUGH!" Drago roared. He swung his bullhook.

Hiccup's breath caught in his throat as a searing pain blazed across his shoulders and back. He gasped for air as he was lifted off of Stormfly, suspended by the sharpened hook that was dug in underneath his shoulder blade. He looked at Drago, mouth flopping impotently like a fish out of water.

Drago laughed cruelly as Toothless roared in anger and fell prey to the mind snare once again. "How stupid do you think I am, boy? Did you think I'd just _let_ you take the Night Fury back? It's _mine_! _All_ the dragons are mine!"

He twisted one of Toothless' sensor lobes and the dragon yowled in pain. "Kill!" he ordered.

Toothless instantly complied. His teeth shot out and his head lurched forward. Everything went dark and Hiccup felt a flash of lightning all around his neck.

Hiccup woke up with a start and looked around. Stormfly had her wings enfolded around him and her head was tucked in to lick his face. He wiped at the saliva as he crawled out from underneath. The sun hadn't dropped all that far. It was more like a short nap than a proper sleep, but it would have to be enough.

Time was fleeting, and nothing would deter him.

Hiccup hopped up on Stormfly and she chittered as she tilted her head to look back at him through her left eye. _{You land-striders never cease to perplex and amuse me.}_

Hiccup shrugged and soothingly scratched her snout. "Sorry, girl. I wish I could figure out how to stop projecting my dreams."

The rest mounted up and they all flew onward to Berk. As they drew close, they saw Drago riding Toothless, surrounded by his dragon army. His Bewilderbeast stood below, tail-end in the water and front webbed feet on the cliff tops of the village.

Hiccup shouted, "Attack!" and all riders and their dragons dove into the fray, flaming, biting, swinging swords and axes, nothing held back. Together, they cleared a path to Toothless.

"Go!" Astrid shouted. Stormfly lurched towards Toothless. She flamed at Drago, but Toothless flipped over, taking the brunt of the attack with his belly. The thin scales there were scant protection, and the Night Fury howled in pain.

As he righted himself again, Stormfly slammed into Drago. Drago ducked and dug his bullhook into Toothless' shoulder to stay onboard. With a flick of her wings, Stormfly snapped back. She scrabbled at Drago, trying to dislodge him. Hiccup fell off and landed on Toothless' flank.

He moved his feet underneath and lunged at Drago, managing to send them both tumbling into empty air. As they fell, Drago wrapped his fingers around Hiccup's neck and casually tossed him aside.

Upside-down, looking up past his feet, Hiccup watched as Toothless swooped in to catch Drago. They dove below and the dragon snapped his wings out to skim over the water. Hiccup knew he had lost everything and wanted the world to swallow him up. The sea was about to do just that, and he took comfort in knowing that it would surely break his neck on impact, granting a quick death. He probably wouldn't even feel the icy water drench him.

Hiccup woke up with a start and looked around. Stormfly had her wings enfolded around him and her head was tucked in to lick his face. He wiped at the saliva as he crawled out from underneath. The sun hadn't dropped all that far. It was more like a short nap than a proper sleep, but it would have to be enough.

Astrid leaped at Hiccup, embracing him in a hug and pinning him against Stormfly's flank. Hiccup collapsed against her as his eyes flooded with tears. He knew he had projected his dreams to nearby dragons in the past, and now that Astrid was a dragon whisperer, she probably saw some glimpses from her dragon.

"I can't…" he started to say, but he choked on a sob. "I… I can't lose him again."

"Shh," Astrid hushed. "Eyes on the target."

Hiccup tried to respond to that. He felt lost. He felt helpless. He felt defeated.

In the end, he ended up wrapping his arms around her as tight as he could and pressed his cheek against the pauldron on her shoulder.

"You can do this," she said. "You will get Toothless back."

"But what if-"

Astrid held Hiccup out at arms length. "I said you _will_ get Toothless back!" She insisted.

"But-"

"What did I say, Hiccup? Speak."

Hiccup weakly said, "I… will… get… Toothless back."

Astrid punched him in the shoulder. "I said speak, not _whimper_!"

Hiccup wiped the tears from his eyes. "I will…"

"You will _what_?" She allowed a small grin to worm its way across her lips.

A steely hardness fell over Hiccup's face. "I will get him back," he declared.

Astrid stared at him for a moment, examining whether he actually meant it or if it was all a facade. Satisfied, she huffed and said, "Good, then let's move out."

Hiccup lunged forward and hugged her again. "Thank you!" he said.

"You're welcome," Astrid replied.

"I love you."

"I love you too."

"You're a goddess."

Astrid broke the hug and studied him for a moment. "You're a dork."

Hiccup grinned from ear to ear and pecked a kiss on her cheek before mounting up on Stormfly.

Time was fleeting, and nothing would deter him.

Hiccup hopped up on Stormfly and she chittered as she tilted her head to look back at him through her left eye. _{You land-striders never cease to perplex and amuse me.}_

* * *

 **A/N:  
** Thanks for reading! Also, thank you Colorful Crayola for being my beta buddy. Now, write more of Ask Not the Sparrow! Mush! The power of Toothless compels you!

Oh, and I think I'm back on track for weekly updates. Time to get this train rolling again.

So, Dragonrider's Fury, I sure did deliver on that second confrontation with Drago, eh? :P


	22. Rocked

**Rocked**

"Land ho!"

Unn - formerly Eret's first mate - looked up at the crow's nest and gave a wave to Tinni to indicate that he heard before going back to readjusting the tension on the mainsail.

Things were going fairly well so far. The crew had made their prayers to the gods for Eret's safe passage beyond, accepted Unn as their captain (he tried to hide his nervousness) and they even managed to bag five dragons. A month ago, the crew was twelve strong, but even though that number had dwindled down to eight, everyone worked together as a single, solid unit. Every man knew his task, his strengths, and his shortcomings, so their sailing and dragon hunting operations were spinning along like a greased pulley.

Normally, they would continue scavenging for dragons to sell to Drago, but everyone agreed that the appearance of the riders from Berk and their assault on Eret was a sign from the gods that they were selling to the wrong dragon master. It was time to "check out the competition". Drago had killed Night Furies, sure, but this Hiccup of Berk _rode_ one! It was pretty clear that everything was sliding off course with Drago, but maybe a gift of some dragons would slide them into Hiccup's good graces. He seemed to be a much nicer dragon master than Drago, anyway, and the temperament of one's employer can make all the difference in how one's day goes.

Unn shouted up to Tinni, "How long to landfall?"

"Before sunset for sure!" Tinni shouted back down. "If the wind holds, I'd wager we'll be there before the sun drops halfway."

Unn looked up at the sun. It was not long past noon, so they had some time. He still couldn't believe their luck these past few days. They knew a general heading for the Barbaric Archipelago that Drago had been skirting around for years, but they hit up a coastal port, bought a map, resupplied, and got some directions in almost no time at all. They barely set anchor in checking a couple of islands to pick up the trapped dragons and it felt like they flew day and night since then with how Njord had graced them with excellent wind for sailing.

"I'm heading below," he called up before he bent down to heave the hatch open. "Take us in, Tinni."

"Aye!"

Unn looked over to the helmsmen, who hadn't been sleeping well lately. "Noam, you good? Need a replacement?"

"I'll get us there. You can count on me."

"Good man," Unn said as he slid down the ladder below deck, allowing the hatch to slam shut above. As he walked down the corridor, lined with storerooms and dragon cages, he caught sight of Oskar walking towards him with a bucket of fish that was mashed to a pulp.

"Captain," Oskar called out in greeting.

"Really, you can just call me by name, Oskar," Unn said. "Before we lost Eret, we weren't just shipmates; we were brothers. I think that was a good thing to keep going."

"Aye boss!"

Unn gave a flat stare at Oskar's smirk. "So, how's our guests doing?" he asked.

"Guests?" Oskar asked as he opened a small feeding hatch to a Timberjack's cell. The dragon was bound in chains that were made from some sort of miracle metal from the mainland that could withstand almost anything any dragon could dish out. It cost an arm and a leg and then some, but Timberjacks could cut right through regular iron. Even though its tail, legs, wings, and neck were fastened securely in place so it couldn't thrash around, even though it was muzzled, it was still able to slurp up the contents from the bucket that Oskar shoved into its cell.

Unn shrugged. "I know very little about this new dragon master and his followers except that, unlike Drago, they ride dragons. I figured best play it safe until we know more about them."

Oskar nodded as they both idly watched the dragon feed.

"Can you imagine riding one of them?" Oskar asked.

Unn snorted. Oskar had always been one to run his mouth about such wild fantasies.

"How would you fancy straddling a sharpened sword?" Unn asked, gesturing to the Timberjack. While reports of those dragons cutting wide swathes through a forest were misleading, it was certainly capable of cutting through a tree to lop a man hiding behind it in half.

Oskar unconsciously took a half-step back and twisted his knees inward at the thought. "Yeah," he said, "I think that even this Hiccup fellow would have to be crazy to consider riding something like this."

"Yeah," Unn agreed. A Monstrous Nightmare from the next cell over tried to roar through its muzzle. "Now, maybe something like that one," he said, gesturing to the dragon.

"Except that it would set its entire body on fire… and your arse!" Oskar said with a guffaw. "I can just imagine it."

"Hmm, point," Unn said. He gestured to the Nadder in the cell across the corridor. "That one…" he took a closer look. "Hmm, no, those horns sticking out of the back of its head would just poke my eyes out."

"A Gronckle would be a safe-" Oskar started to say, but he tripped when a bucket came flying out of the Timberjack's cell, flicked by the dragon's snout. "Feisty thing," he groused as he got up. "What was I saying? Oh, yeah, if I were to ever ride a dragon, maybe I'd choose a Gronckle, as long as it doesn't sit on me."

Unn laughed at that. He walked down the corridor very slowly, flapping his arms to the limited extent the narrow walls would allow in imitation of a dragon flying, sarcastically saying, "Weee. This Gronckle flies so… fast." He gave an exaggerated yawn.

Oskar broke down laughing. "Yeah. Ha ha! You could race the dragon against a snail, but I'd bet on the snail every-"

He was cut off by a loud cacophony. All the dragons were thrashing wildly, rattling their chains in their effort, growling, snarling, and roaring to the extent permitted by their muzzles.

"What's going on?" Oskar shouted over the noise.

"No clue!" Unn shouted back. "Try to calm them down. I'm going topside to check things out."

"Aye cap."

Unn rushed to the ladder and threw the hatch open to scramble up. He barely got his feet on the deck when the entire ship pitched violently. He tumbled against the gunwale and held on for dear life.

A panicked scream drew his attention upward where the rocking of the ship had thrown Tinni from the crow's nest. He grazed the gunwale and fell into the water.

"Man overboard, starboard side!" Unn shouted out. "Noam, the rope!" He pointed at one of the ropes coiled along the gunwale. "Toss it to Tinni!"

The helmsman snapped back to reality and complied. Tinni was thrashing in the water, but he managed to grab the rope only a few feet from the end.

"My arm!" he wailed. "It's broke!"

Unn made his away astern, holding onto the gunwale for dear life as the boat continued to thrash about, and shouted, "Hold it with your teeth if you have to! Hook your foot through the loop at the end! Use your knees and ankles! We're getting you out of there!"

Some more crewmen came up to the deck, awakened from their sleep, and they scrambled to help, half running and half-crawling. With many strong arms, Tinni was hoisted back into the ship, but the unnatural bend in his right forearm was far from encouraging.

However, as they hauled him over the gunwale, his eyes were fixed skyward, mouth agape. Unn followed his gaze. Up in the sky, off the port side, was a Night Fury. It was hard to tell at that distance, but its rider looked like Drago - definitely not that fishbone Hiccup. Following him was a flock of countless dragons.

Everyone was a single twitch away from manning their stations and preparing to ward off their demise, but much to their surprise and relief, the dragons continued to flock onward. Below the dragons, a large swell in the water barely hinted at some massive… thing… moving below, and Tinni figured that must have been what caused the ship to pitch so violently.

The rocking started to ease and everyone took a moment to catch their breath. Unn bent down to inspect Tinni, who was laid out on the deck. Fortunately, his arm was the only thing broken, but he said his left hip hurt, too.

Oskar came up from below and said, "Things are calming down below deck. What was that?"

"Drago," Unn said, "and a thousand dragons. Looks like he's increased his dragon count. Tripled at least. I don't see any other ships. Did he ditch his human army?"

"You mean that bible-thumping crew from the mainland?" Oskar asked. "Good riddance!"

"No matter," Unn said. "Drago is riding the dragon the other dragon master used to ride, so the implication is obvious. We could continue to Berk and offer what we have to Drago and hope for the best. Then again, we could work for Berk if they overthrow Drago. There's also the option to flee to some quiet port and hope this storm blows over. Voice your thoughts, men."

Everyone discussed their options. They quickly agreed to continue towards Berk, but they would approach cautiously and observe from a distance. Two forces were about to clash, and they didn't want to be caught in the middle, but they also didn't want to flee from a potential continuation of their career for whoever came out on top.

"Alright, I need someone in the crow's," Unn said. "Uggi, I know you must be tired, but can you do that?"

"Aye sir," Uggi said.

"And lash yourself in. Just in case."

"Aye."

Unn turn to his helmsman and said, "Noam?"

"I'm good."

"Good," Unn said. "Oskar, let's take Tinni below deck. We need to make sure he doesn't turn into an icicle and then set and splint his arm. Everyone else spread out and check the hull. I don't think we took damage, but better safe than sorry, then we can catch a wink of shut-eye."

Unn was really hoping he could squeeze in a nap before anything else exciting happened.

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"What was it called, Eret?"

Eret shook himself out of his reverie and looked around, trying to identify who was talking to him. Stormfly was flying next to him and Hiccup said, "Your island, Eret, what was it called, please?"

"Oh," Eret said, "Breakneck Island. My tribe was called the same."

Hiccup nodded thoughtfully. "I'd ask how your tribe got its name, but I can probably make a guess."

Eret grinned. "We were not a pleasant bunch. Most attempts at conquest against us were thwarted by the rings of boulders just below the surface of the water, sinking anyone who doesn't know the few safe ways in. Anyone who does make it to shore would face high cliffs. The only safe way up was controlled and easily defendable. The last time anyone had a go at us was back when I was a lad. Murderous tribe, if I recall right."

"Oh, how'd that go?" Hiccup asked.

"After we killed the few who made it to land, we hauled in the bodies of those we found on their broken ships and, well-" he cast a furtive glance at the body of the former Hooligan chief that was slung under Snotlout's Monstrous Nightmare. "We lived up to our name and dropped off a ship full of their heads just off their island's shore as a warning," he curtly finished.

Hiccup grimaced and looked pale.

Eret gave a sympathetic frown. "I'm sorry. As I said, we were not a pleasant bunch."

Hiccup stared in thought. "So, if that was the last attack- from Vikings," he quickly amended, "and you were young then… You're, what, thirty years now?"

"Close," Eret said. "thirty-five. I was…" he paused and closed his eyes. "Gods, twelve? I was on the beach and helped in a kill. Haven't seen any visitors since then, except an occasional brave trader; there were a few who knew how to make port without sinking. Growing up on the island, life was actually pretty quiet."

"And so you all collectively decided, 'Hey, you know how the dragons are leaving us alone for the most part? I have an idea; let's _not_ return the favor.'" Hiccup said, more resigned than angry

Eret shrugged. "Dragon trapping was very profitable. Nab a few, sell them off, and return with twice their weight in food, spices, clothing, and weapons. So far out, we had to trade _something_. I'll say now that my days of dragon trapping are over because _someone_ ," he affectionately slapped Grunt's neck, "ruined it all for me. Still, at that time, it seemed a good way of life. Given what we knew, you can't blame us." Eret tried not to make that last bit sound like pleading as he knew he was talking to a dragon hugger.

"No," Hiccup said with a slow shake of his head. "I really can't blame you at all. It's just sad that we all believed dragons to be mindless and evil because of the Red Death, but the ones you preyed on were not even under her mind snare. They were innocent bystanders."

"How can you know that?" Eret asked with a raise of his eyebrows.

Hiccup looked ahead and was silent for a moment before answering. "I flew there in recent years. I actually landed on your island, though I did not know who they were. In talking to-" he paused, and Eret could tell he was trying to avoid revealing certain facts. "Toothless and I once flew out that way, and certain dragons told us about the happenings in that area. They were not enthralled, but they were essentially cut off from the rest of the world with nowhere else to go. In one direction was the queen's mind snare. Fly in any other direction and they'd find nothing but open water and they'd be forced to turn back or fly to exhaustion and drown. They eventually realized this when dragons who flew off never returned."

Eret stared, unsure of how to respond to that. He had never considered the possibility that the dragons were literally trapped. It took an effort to imagine them as people, but if they were Vikings who did not dare come within a dozen leagues of some sort of mind-controlling evil enchantress in her lair, they would have been forced to retreat farther away as her range expanded. These dragons were essentially pressed up against the wall with nowhere to go, waiting for the sword to fall when Red Death expanded her range a little more.

He suddenly realized something. "In all my travels, I'd never seen a Night Fury. They must have flown a long distance to come attack us, and since you've implied that there's only one direction they could have come from, I suppose I can only blame the Red Death for what happened to my tribe."

"Night Furies are really good at not being seen…" Hiccup slowly drawled out.

"Wait, what you're saying…" Eret prompted Hiccup, who stared ahead as the icy wind whipped at his face. Grunt craned her head around and gave a little caw at her rider. Eret could tell that Hiccup knew something, and it was equally obvious that it shook him.

"Those Night Furies were never enthralled," Eret guessed, "is that right?"

Hiccup sullenly looked ahead. "Yes."

"They were our neighbors, so to speak, and had been ignoring us for many years, then."

Again, Hiccup had only a terse, resigned reply. "Yes."

"So, what, they just decided one day that they had a vendetta against us?"

There was a long silence. Eret was about to abandon this conversation when Hiccup ground out, "Yes."

"Because of our dragon trapping?"

Hiccup came to himself and looked at Eret for the first time in a long time. "No, it's not that."

"Then what _is_ it?" Eret asked. Hiccup continued to stare straight ahead. "C'mon, Hiccup, it's history, but I deserve to know why my tribe was wiped off the map."

Hiccup stared at the back of his dragon's head and said, "When any animal is backed up into a corner, what does it do?"

"It lashes out, of course; it fights for survival, but why _us_?" Even as Eret asked the question, the answer started to creep into his mind.

"What if you happen to be in the way?"

Something didn't jive with Eret. "But we were not driving them into a corner. Nobody ever saw the bloody things and you say they were right under our noses. Besides, our island would be…" he paused in thought for a moment. "You were there, wherever the Night Furies were nesting. Was Breakneck island farther away from the Red Death?"

Hiccup slowly shook his head. "Your island was far enough away that sending dragons out there was a risk and the Red Death knew it. He paused and closed his eyes. Eret waited patiently. "You said the dragons in that area almost entirely ignored you, and that included any who the Red Death had enthralled, and I can tell you why. She had focused her resources on the free dragons in that area, not the Vikings."

Eret chewed on that for a moment. "So, the dragons who were not enthralled wanted to have nothing to do with us, and the ones that _were_ enthralled were sent out to… I suppose kill or capture the free dragons?"

Hiccup started scratching his wrist, clearly very uncomfortable with this conversation, "Yes and no. The Red Death's real prize was the Night Furies in that area. When she had captured Toothless, she used him to effectively extend her range of control, which was possible because of all those sensor lobes crowning his head. This was before she captured him, though, so she was hungry to have such a dragon, and she knew they were trapped between a rock and a hard place." He sucked in a breath and closed his eyes. "The queen threw hundreds of dragons at them. Dozens died for each Night Fury that went down, but none were ever taken alive. Their numbers were dwindling and they could sense the end was near."

Realization started to dawn on Eret. He tried again to see the Night Furies as a Viking tribe. If a tribe falls on hard times with no reprieve in sight, the natural reaction would be to ask for help. However, they were dragons, so they had no way of communicating. Perhaps they could enact some clever plan to establish contact, but that would require imagination, which was something dragons inherently lacked.

He asked, "Then why _us_?"

"They…" Hiccup fidgeted and made another start at speaking. "It's… Well… Gods, how do I even…" Finally, he let out a sigh.

Eret held up a hand and said, "It's alright. Let's drop it for now. I'm patient."

"Sorry," Hiccup meekly said as he stared at the back of his dragon's head.

"I understand it's difficult," Eret said. "Besides, the day will come when Toothless can tell me himself, and I bet he wouldn't mind explaining it all. If you hear through him, then he would know no less about this than you, probably even more."

Hiccup slumped. " _If_ we ever get him back."

Eret held a level stare at Hiccup. The boy straightened in his saddle, unable to look away from the intense gaze.

"We _will_ get him back," Eret said, "and I will learn what happened from his own lips."

"Well, technically, not from his lips since dragon communication is non-verbal… and…" Hiccup wilted under Eret's scrunching eyebrows.

"We _will_ get Toothless back and he _will_ be just fine and he _will_ be so happy to fly with you again," Eret said with an air of finality.

Hiccup dared to smile at that. "Thank you, Eret. It's just… I worry that…" he sighed. "Just thank you."

* * *

 **A/N:**  
Thanks for reading and thank you Colorful Crayola for being my beta buddy. I know I've said I'm back on weekly uploads, and it's been two weeks since the last upload, but I'm actually caught up for realsies!

Oh, and if you think the names of Eret's crew sound familiar, that's probably because you read about them in the "Heart Bound" series by 10Blue10 who graciously let me use their names waaaay back in chapter 3.

JustANormalHTTYDFan, thanks for dropping a line. Glad ya like the dreamception. I actually had something like that, recently, where I was dreaming that I knew I was dreaming, and I wanted to wake up, so I tried to open my eyes and move my limbs, and when I woke up, it somehow all looped several times. That sorta gave me the inspiration for Hiccup's dream. Also, I wanted to poke fun at the movie for Hiccup depending on Drago just allowing him to work his magic. ;)

Dragonrider's Fury, I got a funny story behind the idea of having Meatlug hold the Maces and Talons game board. My dad had a roommate back in his college days at Elkhart who was a major chess nerd. Ya know how a chess board has a grid system, with the letters A-H for the columns and the numbers 1-8 for the rows? Well, Mr. Chess Nerd would try to get my dad to play chess at night, when they were lying in their bunk beds in the dorm room, and call out, "Pawn to E4" or something like that. My dad says he never made it past 8 turns before losing track of everything.


	23. Planned

**Planned**

A Thunderclaw dragon slowly bobbed in the endless sea, wings splayed, legs lethargically paddling to stay afloat. A wave pushed the dragon down and it feebly fought to keep its head above the water.

"I suppose we're on the right track," Tord said. He knew this would only make it harder for Hiccup to stick to the mission.

Hiccup said, "We need to go down and-"

"We need to get to Berk!" Astrid cut him off.

"But-"

"How many people would die if this dragon delays us?" Astrid demanded. "How much more tired would our dragons become if they drag this one to the nearest shore? How many people will suffer and die if we fail because of this?"

Hiccup slumped. "So, to defeat our enemy, we must become him."

"It's not like your olive branch approach did wonders on that glacial beach," Tord commented.

"Tord!" Astrid snapped hotly.

Hiccup glumly said, "He's right. You both are."

There was a moment of silence, save the beating of wings and the whipping of the icy wind, then Tord said, "When there is no outcome worse than defeat, every loss, while undesirable, is acceptable."

"Says the man who got hundreds of his men squished like bugs," Snotlout said.

Tord looked at the defiant rider with cool acceptance. "Yes," he said. He would not grant Snotlout the satisfaction of a heated retort.

Still, Hiccup flashed Tord a grateful smile. He was smart enough to recognize sound wisdom when he heard it, but that little gesture was the limit of what would be allowed with the present company.

The Nightmare on which Tord rode lightly trilled and tilted its head back to gently brush his arm with a horn. Tord patted the dragon's neck as he realized there was one other subtle medium through which the dragon master could communicate.

"But why?" Hiccup whimpered, gesturing to the dragon that was now far behind them. "Why would he leave this one behind to die?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Tord asked in genuine surprise. "Drago knows that Berk has many dragons because _someone_ told him," he shot a look at Astrid, whose facial expression morphed into an amusing mix of defiant and remorseful. Turning back to Hiccup, "He would be driven to get his hands on them as soon as possible, so stopping for one dragon would not make sense to him."

"But it's not the only one!" Hiccup wailed.

It was true. This was the third dead or dying dragon they flew over in chasing after Drago. The Thunderclaw was long gone, now, for how fast they were flying, and Tord could see a pair of specks on the waves far ahead, no doubt more dead or exhausted dragons. He felt no remorse, but he wisely kept that to himself.

"I wonder how many of them are the ones whose wings Toothless bit?" Hiccup loudly muttered.

"That's behind us," was Astrid's terse reprimand. "We are flying forward."

"But-"

She cut him off with, "Eyes on target."

Hiccup groaned, closed his eyes, and then looked at Astrid with a forced smile. "Love you," he said. Astrid beamed and returned the sentiment.

Tord said, "I suppose, in Drago's eyes, he's only allowing the weak to die. Even if he loses half of his dragons on this voyage, the gains would justify the losses."

From behind, Fishlegs snapped, "Dragons are not a commodity to be bartered!"

"Well, you'll just have to tell that to Drago," Tord cooley replied.

"I will!" Fishlegs declared.

Tuffnut shouted, "And then we'll launch Operation Trial and kick his butt!"

"This is the third time I've heard someone mention this trial thing," Tord said. "Since we're getting close, could somebody fill me in?"

"All you need to know is that your butt stays on the dragon," Ruffnut declared.

"Beautifully stated!" Fishlegs said in a dreamy voice. Snotlout edged his dragon closer and said, "Yeah, butt on dragon. You disobey Ruffnut and you answer to me!"

Both males drifted closer to Ruffnut. She made a disgusted face, and her dragon's head leaned one way so she could slap Snotlout, then the other way to slap Fishlegs.

"Sorry, boys," she said, "but I'm already spoken for." She gave a dreamy look at Eret. "I need someone daring. Someone rebellious. Someone… hunky."

Eret leaned down and said to his dragon, "Grunt, If she ever gets her hands on me, promise me you'll eat her." The dragon squawked and snapped at his leg. "Fine, then eat _me_ instead. Just don't let her-"

"You know you need me, snoogie woogie!" Ruffnut declared, fist in the air. "You will see the light eventually!"

Gobber buzzed in between them on his dragon and said, "A'ight, that's enough. Ya keep this up and I'll vomit all over ya." Ruffnut pouted and Eret breathed a sigh of relief.

"So," Tord asked again, "This trial thing?"

"I suppose there's no harm in tellin' ya," Gobber said. He stole a quick glance at Hiccup, and it was obvious that the blacksmith was doing this just to distract and cheer up the boy. "Ya see, whenever the chief declares that his heir is ready ta take his place, the heir must go through the trial. He picks his team, and the chief picks his. Older generation 'gainst the younger."

"So, relay races, sparring, that sort of thing? Demonstrations of strength, speed, and wit?" Tord guessed.

Gobber shrugged. "Such is exercised." He gave a glare at Hiccup, who gave an exaggeratedly innocent smile. "Normally." Back to Tord, he said, "The chief's unit guards a flag, and the heir has from mid-afternoon 'till sundown ta steal it away. This always degrades to fighting, so we use wooden swords so nobody gets hurt too badly."

"Interesting," Eret threw in. "The open nature of the challenge allows the heir to choose any tactic he wants. He could go for a stealthy steal, distract and grab, or a frontal assault. This would also give room for him to figure out how to use the environment to his advantage."

"You could say Hiccup did just that," Fishlegs chimed in.

Gobber scowled. "The heir always loses. The whole point of The Trial is ta teach humility and reveal what skills still need sharpenin'. However, Hiccup had to ruin all that by cheatin'!"

"Did not!" Hiccup declared.

"Oh, this I gotta hear," Eret said.

"Well," Hiccup started, "I suggested to the council that, since dragons are woven so deeply in our way of life nowadays, and since everyone has a dragon…"

"And trying to forcefully separate him and Toothless didn't go so well," Snotlout said. "My dad _still_ has bite marks on his arm."

"Bah!" Gobber waved it off. "Spite was outta line; he deserved it. Anyway, so everyone in the attacking and defending units have dragons, ya see. So, Hiccup walks up ta us like he owns the place and says..." He looked over to Hiccup, who was beaming. Gobber sighed and said, "Alright, lad, go ahead, tell 'em what ya said."

Hiccup made a show of clearing his throat. "Ahem. Dragons, I will steal this flag away to secure my right as alpha over these people. Do you approve of this? Most of us cannot hear you, so please answer with action."

"I suppose their actions were in Hiccup's favor?" Eret asked.

"Oh, man, you should have been there!" Tuffnut said as he slapped his leg. "Gobber, Stoick, Spitelout, ack, _everyone_ was instantly squished between their dragons and the ground. They definitely spoke with their actions alright!"

"Until Stoick wriggled free and got on his feet," Ruffnut threw in. "He ran after Hiccup, but Skullcrusher nabbed his cape and the two got into a fight."

"And it should surprise no one that I tried to break it up," Hiccup added. "Then, instead of saying 'Thanks, son, for convincing my dragon to stop trying to eat my leg,' what does he do? He tries to grab my flag!"

"'Your' flag?!" Gobber snorted. "The _nerve_ of this boy!"

Hiccup stuck out his tongue and said, "Nine-tenths of the law."

Fishlegs added, "And the Monstrous Nightmares who flamed up in the middle of it all said they didn't really _intend_ to set those homes on fire… or people..."

Ruffnut said, "So then Toothless intervenes for Hiccup, and Spitelout leaps in, then… Well, let's just call it a massive dogpile-"

"Dragon pile!" Tuffnut threw in.

"-from which Hiccup walked away with the flag, untouched, trying to balance it on his nose the whole way to the goal zone." Ruffnut finished.

Eret stared at Hiccup, who shrugged and said, "Hey, I wanted to give them a chance."

"Sounds like a shipwreck to me," Tord said. "He was supposed to learn humility and how to gracefully handle loss, but instead, you reinforced the exact opposite."

Gobber gave him a sideways stare. "Says Mr. Pious dragon slayer. Pot, meet kettle."

"Explains a few things," Tord muttered under his breath. Speaking up, he said, "So, how does this help us beat Drago? I'm hoping your plan is more elaborate than to politely ask the enthralled dragons to defect to our side. I don't suppose we could get to Berk before Drago?"

Hiccup shook his head. "It would never work. Our dragons are already pushing themselves as hard as they dare. It's too risky to try to fly past Drago, and we can't fly around him. So, we'll have to let him take the dragons on Berk and then come in on his heels."

"And then politely ask the dragons to shake off this devilry and join us," Tord said flatly.

"Pretty much," Hiccup said. "They're all already on our side; we just need to free them from the mind snare. All _you_ need to do is stay on Intrepid so she remains free. She'll know what to do."

"But how would that convert the… other… dragons..." Tord started to ask, but the answer dawned on him, as did a feeling of impending doom.

Hiccup grinned. "We do have a village full of dragon riders."

Tord spluttered, "But that's… You mean… Insane! Crazy! Absolutely daft! You make my former alliance with Drago seem conservative and safe in comparison!"

Hiccup held a hand to his chest and said, "I'm Hiccup, by the way. Nice to meet you."

########

* * *

########

"We're getting close to the Bewilderbeast, and right on time," Hiccup shouted out to the riders as they flew along. Turning to Eret and Tord, he said, "We should arrive on Berk right on his heels. Once we oust Drago and his Bewilderbeast, I'll have to show you around. We're twelve days north of hopeless, and a few degrees south of freezing to death, resting solidly on the meridian of misery. The food is tough and tasteless, and the people even more so."

"Sounds just wonderful," Eret said. He noticed Astrid rolling her eyes as Hiccup was talking and figured it must have been a common introduction. Every tribe had its "land of endless possibilities" or "roughest warriors in the north" sort of spiel to give to newcomers.

As the speck of an island drew closer, Drago's massive army of dragons drifted into focus. The sight of so many, knowing they were all under Drago's command, made Eret's stomach sink. That man had demonstrated how ruthless and cruel he was. He was downright inhuman in his capacity for contempt, and he was going to take his army of thousands of dragons and conquer the world with them, absorbing more into his flock as he went.

Eret couldn't help but feel glum about how he had helped Drago get to this point. At first, it was a chance to prove his own worth, help an old friend, turn a good profit, and ensure his place in the years to come. All that had slowly degraded to simply wanting to be on the winning side. Then, ever since Astrid plucked him up, he'd seen so many signs that it was impossible to ignore the fact that dragons were more than dumb animals to throw at an enemy.

His dragon, Grunt, tilted her head back and flicked his face with the fin on her head. "We got this, girl," he said as he unconsciously scratched the back of her neck. That was another uncomfortable thought. This dragon was not just a pet or a beast of burden. No, she was more like his former crewmen with whom he had toiled day and night. He could tell that she was a bottomless well of sass, and if Hiccup and Fishlegs were right, he could hear her, someday, and rattle back and forth with all her snarky comments that clearly dwelled inside that head.

Grunt looked back at Eret with an inquiring look.

"Just thinking," Eret said. "Only a few days ago, I was trying to catch your elusive arse. Now, I'm flying into battle with you. I dunno. Feels like I'm lost in the deep."

Grunt stretched her neck up and back to use her fin to pat the top of Eret's head. It reminded him of a man patting his dog's head while saying, "Good dog!" after the animal picked up a good trick.

Eret chuckled and playfully slapped the fin away. "What, I'm your pet, now? Are you saying, 'good human?'"

Grunt trilled playfully and emphatically nodded her head up and down.

"Oh, you're gonna get it," Eret said. "I once had a dog who thought he was my alpha. After enough iterations of throwing him to the ground and rolling him on his back, he eventually became more submissive."

Grunt's only response was to gnash her teeth a couple of times.

Ruffnut said, "Hey, Eret, you can do that to me!"

Eret shuddered at the thought. Off to the side, Fishlegs said, "No, I will _not_ tell him that!"

"Tell who what?" Eret asked, even though he knew his dragon had some sassy comment she wanted a rider to relay. Again.

"Nothing!" Fishlegs insisted.

Tuffnut crowed with mirth and said, "She says she really wants to see that happen, so she won't whip you too hard when you try."

Eret crossed his arms in mock offense. "Oh, you're lucky I gotta stay on your back, lassy." He shook a fist in the air. "When this is over, I'm gonna have to teach you some manners, for I am the greatest dragon wrangler… in…"

He faltered when Grunt turned her head to the side and opened her maw wide in an exaggerated yawn. She then pet him on the head again with her fin.

"Oh, laugh it up," Eret said, trying to look cross. He then burst into laughter at how ridiculous all this must seem to the casual observer. "I think I see, now, why all you dragon riders are so bloody bat-shit crazy."

As they flew on, something in the water caught his attention. Taking a closer look, he could tell it was a ship.

It was _his_ ship.

Eret looked at Hiccup and Astrid and asked, "Speaking of crazy, may I have your ear for a moment?"

########

* * *

########

"Dragon incoming!"

Even from inside his captain's cabin, Unn could hear the activity all around him. A sharp twang heralded the use of a net launcher, followed by a splash. A loud groaning signaled the heavy timber of the heavy crane rotating about, most likely to fish a dragon out of the water. The piercing clack clack clack of the ratchet on the winch was always at the top of his least pleasant sounds to hear.

Under any other circumstances, Unn would have considered it all music to his ears. With how much time it took to set up traps, check on them, and haul any dragons they caught, it was always nice when a dragon would deliver itself to the ship. However, when he was desperate to catch a little shut-eye was one of the few exceptions.

He stomped into his boots and donned his heavy coat, muttering, "All I wanted was a moment of rest so I won't be sagging and bleary-eyed when we land on Berk, but nooooo, the gods can't even grant me this one little thing." He pushed through the door to the outer deck. "What next in this parade of constant interrupt-"

He froze, shocked at two things that he never imagined he would ever see. The first was a Hobblegrunt caught in the netting - those dragons were nimble as rabbits and sly as foxes. The second, which really sent his head spinning, was Eret. Who was presumed dead. And was smashed against the back of the dragon as they both coughed up water.

From his squished position under the dragon, pressed against the netting, Eret wheezed, "Gods, you're heavy, girl." Can we-" He squirmed around, as did the dragon, and he ended up slightly less compressed next to the dragon instead of beneath it. He craned his head around to look at Unn and the still open door behind him and said, "That's _my_ cabin."

Amidst all the shocked murmuring from the entire crew gathered around, Oskar said, "Awkwaaard…"

All Unn could do was point and say, "But you're… you're…"

"Dead?" Eret asked in a strained voice. "Not yet, but it sure is cramped up here." He looked at each crewman. "C'mon, guys, it's me, Eret, son of Eret. I'm still the same man you called a friend a few days back, before I was whisked away. I'm the same man you could trust with your lives, and I'm trusting you with my life right now. Let me down, please. I'll explain everything once my knee isn't trying to shove my lungs out through my back."

"You swear your dragon won't harm anyone?" Unn asked.

"Well, if you try to kill her, she'll no doubt defend herself," Eret said.

Unn rolled his eyes. "You know what I mean."

"I swear on my life she will not attack anyone."

Noam and Jorge looked at Unn, who nodded, and they cranked the winch to lower the net. As he touched down and the net slackened, Eret stood and pulled it off the crane's hook to let it fall to the deck. The dragon rolled to its feet and pressed its snout against Eret's hand. Everyone stiffened and held a weapon close.

Eret turned to his dragon and said, "Don't think I forgot about that bet we made; you owe me half your weight in fish. I _told_ you they could shoot you from the sky. I don't pull my crew from the dredges of society."

The dragon flicked its snout to its back and wobbled its knees. It then pressed its wingtips against Eret's back and belly, then let them drift outward.

"I am _not_ fat!" Eret declared in mock offense. "Besides, I leaned. I _leaned_! Astrid would be proud of me!"

Eret and his Hobblegrunt walked towards the captain's cabin and Unn automatically drifted aside, but they stopped outside the still-open door. "Oskar," he said, turning around, "we've known each other for many years, and I recall you've always been curious what it would be like to ride a dragon.

"Yessss…" Oskar said uncertainly.

Eret smiled. "Well, I think I can make that dream come true, but for starters, I'd like to ask you to come here and put your hand on Grunt."

Oskar took a timid small step forward. "Grunt?"

"Yes," Eret said in a matter-of-fact tone. "That's what I named her." He took a step to snatch Oskar's wrist, hauled him over, and placed his trembling hand against the dragon's snout. "Good, just like that. Thank you, friend. Don't worry, I promise she won't hurt you." Eret strolled into the captain's cabin and said, "I'm soaking wet from the bath you gave me, so I need to change before I turn into an icicle."

"Uhh…. Uhh… Uhhh," Oskar sputtered, clearly terrified.

"Don't worry." Eret waved him off. "Just don't let go."

"What happens if I let go?" Oskar asked.

Through the half-opened door, Unn could hear the sounds of wet clothing slapping down on the floor. He restrained himself from shouting out in protest when he heard water being wrung out onto the formerly dry boards.

"Just don't," Eret called out. "We're in range of Drago's Bewilderbeast, and your hand on Grunt's head is the only thing stopping that beast from controlling her mind to send her into a frenzied rage. I don't think Drago needs another dragon added to his army. Trust me."

"Uhh…. Uhh… Uhhh," Oskar sputtered.

The dragon started to nose the door open to squeeze its long snout in only to get a sopping wet pair of britches thrown at it. "Privacy!" Eret hissed.

Finally, he stepped out in dry clothes and worked his way into his heavy fur coat. It was still damp, but it was better than nothing. He put a hand on his dragon and said, "You can let go, now, Oskar, and thank you." Addressing the whole crew, he said, "So, how's everyone doing?"

Unn stepped forward and said, "Now wait just a moment, Eret. It's been four days! If the captain is presumed dead for three days and nights, the role of captain and ownership falls to-"

Eret interrupted with, "Yes, yes, and if said captain returns, he has every right to raise a fuss about his crew presuming him dead and beating tail the other way. Such actions could be confused for mutiny."

"So that's what you're doing?" Unn asked. "Listen, when that Deadly Nadder plucked you up and flew you off, we tried to stop it. However, we had all assumed there was no way you'd survive with those dragon-riding barbarians. And I can say I'm relieved to see you again, Eret, I really am!"

Eret smiled and strode into the middle of the crowd. "Actually, the real reason I'm here is to officially give up the Tipsy Terror. She's all yours, Unn. I declare, in the sight of the gods and everyone here…" He looked around and noticed a missing crewman. "Where's Tinni?"

Jorge toed the deck, indicating he was below, and said, "He fell from the crow's nest. Busted his shoulder and nearly froze to death."

Eret stomped on the deck and shouted, "Dammit, Tinni, how many times have I told you to tie yourself to the safety line!" He sighed and rolled his eyes. "Anyway, the ship is yours, Unn, and everything in her. I'd like to come back for my share of the loot and some of my effects in my- in _the_ captain's cabin, but the rest is yours. I wish you all great fortunes!"

"Uhhh, thanks," Unn said, shocked, fishing for a response.

"There's just one thing I'd like to ask of you all, though," Eret said. "Volunteers only, and I'll have you back by-" he looked at the sun, "by sundown for sure. You've all seen it for yourself, Drago is lost in the deep. Take my word, lads, this Hiccup fellow is a much kinder employer than Drago, and that makes a world of difference in conducting business."

"Is that where you got your dragon?" Unn asked. "From Hiccup?"

"Yes and no. I'll explain later. Time is fleeting," he said as he walked over to the large cargo hatch that was designed to load and unload dragons.

"Wait, what are you doing?" Unn demanded.

"Grunt," Eret said, "Please count to three. Three."

The Hobblegrunt clicked its tongue in its maw three times in rapid succession.

"Thank you, Grunt," Eret said. "Now seven, please. Seven."

The dragon complied, much to the amazement of everyone gathered around.

"Nifty trick. Try fifteen," Jorge said, looking expectantly at the dragon. He frowned, though, when the dragon eyed him inquisitively, bobbed its head, and tilted it to the side.

"Fifteen," Eret supplied, and the dragon let out a chain of fifteen rapid clicks. "Grunt doesn't know a lick of Norse. We naturally project raw thoughts or some sort of mumbo jumbo like that, but it's muddy and cloudy to the dragons. The riders gave me some pointers to make it more clear to them. You have to think clearly of the details of what you say so you project a more crisp… uhhhh, thing. I don't fully understand it all myself if I'm honest. It's all bloody confusing, trust me."

"What's all this about?" Unn asked suspiciously.

As Eret turned the crank to loosen the cargo hatch, he said, "Grunt, a ship and her crew capture two dragons. Two. They join up with another ship that caught double that amount, and they joined up with another ship that caught the sum of the first two ships. How many dragons do all three ships carry?"

The dragon clicked twelve times. Jorge crossed his arms and said, "Very fancy, but you could have had some code word in there to count to twelve. I've seen it with horses. The owner dresses up the command in a complex question."

Eret asked, "And did the horse learn such a trick overnight?"

Jorge scratched his head. "Uhh, I guess not?"

"I got an idea," Oskar said. "Try this. First ship caught five, the second ship caught six, and the last ship caught half of the total of the first two ships."

Eret repeated the question for the dragon, but then he realized something and said, "That's not fair. You do realize what the answer is, right?"

"I was never good at math," Oskar admitted.

Everyone hushed as the dragon clicked sixteen times. It then held one wing close to its body and fanned the other one out and clicked again.

"Ha!" Eret crowed as he slapped the dragon's shoulder. "That would be the half a dragon. Clever girl!" Everyone's jaw hit the deck. "Satisfied?" he asked with a smirk.

Unn quickly ran through the numbers, counting on his fingers, and he had to admit, "That is… very impressive."

"Try this on for size, mate," Eret said. He turned to the dragon and said, "Grunt, can you tell how many dragons are held on this ship?"

The dragon cocked its head for a moment, sniffed around on the deck, then straightened and clicked five times. Shouts of surprise and alarm rang out.

"What's your angle, Eret?" Unn asked. "Trade this ship for the dragons we caught? You already gave it away, and we need 'em to make good with whoever comes out on top today."

Eret held up placating hands and said to the crew, "My former shipmates, my friends - still, I hope - there is a lot we don't know about dragons. There is a lot we can learn, but that is not why I am here right now. Jorge, when you were making a living trapping lynx and badgers, I dared you to join me and go for bigger game. Unn, when I saw the way you handled that Nadder when he broke loose from his restraints as I wheeled him past the marketplace, I knew I needed to convince you that it would be worth closing down your stall to join me on grand adventures. Do you regret that?"

"I suppose not," Jorge and Unn admitted.

Eret turned to Noam and said, "And when you drank me under the table, I knew you were a man worthy of my respect and worthy to be on my crew." Noam gave a little chuckle. "And then you stole Hilda out from under me and bedded her yourself while I dealt with a throbbing headache. It was then that I resisted the urge to stab you in the back." Noam guffawed at that.

"Men," Eret said, addressing everyone, "For the past several years, we have not just been shipmates. We have been friends. We have been family. It is for this reason alone that I would _dare_ even ask you for an immense show of trust. If you thought Drago was a baddie when he flew into a rage and branded me because we were short on our quota by one dragon - one! - then you haven't seen the half of what he is today. He left his entire army to die on some gods-forsaken glacier. He is well and truly insane. I want to bring him down, and I know your life will become miserable and short otherwise, and to do that, I ask for your help."

Murmuring spread around. Unn said, "We saw Drago fly past not long ago. He was riding that Night Fury, and he had this massive sea dragon, and thousands of dragons besides that, and he's about to land on Berk and take all their dragons. What can we do against that?"

"I'll tell you what we can do," Eret said. "We can ride the dragons you have down below and make Drago fall on his own sword."

"You really think we can ride them?" Oskar asked. "You really think Drago can be defeated?"

Eret rounded on him and bristled. "I think you can take control of your own fate instead of cowering in a corner and working for the current head alpha! I think we can take action for a better future."

"Risky," Jorge said.

Eret deflated a little and said, "I have never taken advantage of the trust my friends place in me. I call on anyone who can challenge that." After a moment of silence, he said, "Yes, we can ride them. We just touch a dragon to free him from the mind snare, and before we unshackle them, Grunt can tell us if they'll play nice. Then, we fly out, help Hiccup take down Drago, and instantly gain an ally that I swear is a thousand times better than Drago. Yes, it is risky and I want you to be well aware of that. I ask for only volunteers who accept the risk."

All eyes turned to Unn. "Captain?" Jorge asked.

Unn stared at Eret and his dragon, still struggling to grasp that this was possible. "Well," he slowly said, "I'm your captain, not your father. Just don't expect payment for the days you spend goofing off with the dragons."

"I have just one request," Oskar said to Eret.

Eret nodded. "Shoot."

Oskar's knees bent inward. "Anything but the Timberjack."

* * *

 **A/N:  
** Thank your for reading, and thank you Colorful Crayola for being my beta buddy.

Dragonrider's Fury, Thanks for the correction on 10Blue10. I fixed my error. Don't worry if Hiccup's talk on the Night Furies that attacked Breakneck island isn't quite clear yet. I'm experimenting with stretching out a single side story over a few chapters.


	24. Snatched

**Snatched**

As he approached Berk, Hiccup stared at the scene before him. It was exactly as he imagined it would be, but it was still a shock to see. The massive Bewilderbeast was standing on his hind legs with his front feet perched on the cliff tops by the village square; even after swimming so many leagues, Dragon King's dried blood still clung to his face and tusks. Toothless was perched atop his head as a servile mount for Drago.

The riders made it to Berk as quickly as they could hope, but Drago had already taken all the dragons and had them flocking above the Bewilderbeast along with the others. He was tossing Stoick's head into the gathering crowd, taunting them and telling them how it was Toothless who killed him and ripped his head off. Despair washed over everyone on the ground.

HIccup took a shaky breath and scrunched his eyes closed.

 _{We can do this, Firefly. My wings are yours. My fire is yours. I am yours.}_

Hiccup patted Stormfly's head. It was the same affirmation he had received from Toothless. "Thank you," he managed to rasp out.

 _{There is only one thing I demand from you in return.}_

That definitely was _not_ something Toothless always told his rider, but he actually found it welcoming. "Alright, shoot."

 _{If there is one dragon who can claim to know you almost as well as Toothless, it's me. The most important thing is that we deliver you safely to Toothless, but all will be lost if you cannot push aside your old habits. Promise me one thing. No matter what happens, keep your eyes on the prey.}_

"I…" Hiccup knew what she was getting at. Even just flying here from Dragon Sanctuary, the tugging of his heartstrings would have made him stop and help the floundering dragons along the way without thinking of the consequences to his tribe or the thousands of dragons that Drago controlled. He knew Stormfly was absolutely right, but he was hesitant to make a promise he didn't know he could keep.

 _{Many dragons and land-striders will likely be injured and killed, today. Accept it now so that it will not affect you when you see it. Harden your scales and do not allow anything to stop you. If the ones you love are hurt or killed, do not falter or their loss will be in vain.}_

Hiccup swallowed hard. "That's… I… We'll be fine, Stormfly."

The dragon craned her head around to stare into his eyes. _{You have that wonderful imagination that allows you to see with more than your eyes, so use it. See Zealot and Dragon Savior dying. See Toothless getting hurt. See me die before your eyes, so that if it happens, you will be prepared and can find another dragon.}_

Hiccup gasped. "Stop it!" he pleaded. "Just stop."

Stormfly trilled consolingly. _{I am only trying to help. We are about to be entangled in a fight for survival and it will not be pretty. Any display of mercy today will be a mistake you will regret for the rest of your life.}_

"I… I…" Hiccup licked his lips as he wrestled with himself. "I killed my father trying to play the diplomat."

 _{Eyes on the prey, Firefly. I need to know that you will achieve victory no matter the cost.}_

Hiccup squirmed under the dragon's probing gaze. "We'll be fine."

 _{That is not what I asked for.}_

Hiccup let out a long exhale. "I can promise I'll try."

The Nadder trilled. _{Whatever you do, remember that Toothless is watching. Make him proud of you.}_

Hiccup snapped his eyes to said dragon, who was staring ahead through vacant, slit pupils. If nothing else, to see those eyes look on him with recognition and joy was all the motivation he needed to push past any barrier.

He swallowed hard and said, "Bring us in."

As the riders landed amongst their fellow villagers, Drago noticed them and stared at Hiccup. At first, the warlord was surprised, but his face settled into a smirk. It was time to begin the first phase of the attack plan: stall for time.

All around, slack-jawed stares focused on Stoick's dead body that was slung underneath Hookfang. A few villagers helped Snotlout unbind and carry him and his dismembered head to a safer location.

 _{Focus, Firefly. Eyes on the prey.}_

Hiccup looked up at Drago and dug deep to speak loud so he could be heard by all. "That's _my_ dragon, Drago! Or, should I address you as Loki since he's the one who made all this possible?"

Confused murmuring rippled through the crowd. Drago looked shocked for a moment before resuming his usual smirk and said, "And what makes you think that?"

Hiccup had a gut feeling that there was something not entirely human about Drago from the moment he landed on the icy beach to confront him. Stoick had stabbed him and he didn't even seem to notice or care. He could ride Toothless without freeing him from the mind snare. In a way that eluded reason, Hiccup could sense some sort of pressure to submit; the sun seemed dimmer, the world bleaker, his breathing more strained. Even Tord, though his beliefs were strange and his conviction against dragons was misguided, was persuaded to ally himself with Drago.

No mere mortal should ever have such complete power. It was just like Tord's story about the man possessed with Legion. There was more to Drago than met the eyes. Everything that involved him was accomplished through trickery, manipulation, and chaos - traits of the trickster god. The more Hiccup thought about it, the more obvious it seemed.

"Does it matter how I know?" Hiccup asked. He set his face like a flint and said, "I demand you release these dragons immediately. Failure to do so will not end well for you."

Drago laughed at that. "Oh, great dragon master, you are a funny boy. I knew there was a reason I let you live, but I think I'm through playing games. Any last words before I burn you and your pathetic tribe to cinders?"

Hiccup dismounted and took a step forward with Stormfly pressing her snout into his hand. He stared up defiantly at Drago. "I do, actually."

He took a deep breath and said, "I'm sorry, Drago." The warlord froze, clearly not expecting such an approach. "I'm sorry those Night Furies attacked. I'm sorry you endured such indescribable loss and anguish. From the day you were born, I gather that your father loved you very much, and it was his joy to build you up as an exemplary warrior for your generation. He had every reason to be proud of you."

"Flattery will gain you nothing. Do you really think-"

"But what would your father say now, if he were here to judge you?" Hiccup loudly asked, cutting him off.

"You weren't there!" Drago shouted. "They showed _no_ mercy!"

Hiccup slowly shook his head. "I cannot really blame you for selling yourself out like you did, Drago. Were I in your boots, the temptation to give up everything for a little revenge would surely have been overwhelming, but you must understand that the Night Furies who attacked your village had been under siege by the Red Death's enthralled dragons for many, many years. They knew the end was near. They saw the sword at their throats. Then, they saw your tribe and thought, 'If the Red Death is sending raids against Viking settlements, maybe taking out the only Viking settlement in the area would get her to leave us alone.' They thought-"

"PATHETIC EXCUSES!" Drago bellowed, his face flushed with rage.

"You're right," Hiccup admitted. "Perhaps we can even say that they are beyond forgiving, but they're all dead, now. Hatred has consumed you. I can assure you that there is much more joy in letting go of the past and allowing dragons to be your friends, but I suppose there's no turning back for you."

Drago sneered. "A boy who accepts what he is given is content indeed, but a man who conquers his fears is fearless. I rule these dragons! Your friendships mean nothing next to my control!"

"You're not in control!" Hiccup snapped. "You're a puppet and Loki holds the strings! You dance to the tune _he_ plays!"

"I AM IN CONTROL!" Drago roared. "I AM MASTER OVER MYSELF, THESE DRAGONS, AND ANYONE WHO DARES OPPOSE ME!"

"That's where you're wrong," Hiccup said. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Astrid give him the signal that they were ready. His stalling was not an idle postponement of his inevitable demise. The riders had been working through the crowd, discreetly filling them in on the plan of attack, reassuring them that their stubborn Viking pride could win the day and avenge Stoick.

"You control our dragons for the moment," Hiccup said, his face twisting into a feral grin, "but we will _set them free_!"

Astrid shouted, "Set the dragons free!"

She repeated her shout and Spitelout and Gobber joined in. In a flash, the entire tribe was shouting their rallying cry over and over.

"SET THE DRAGONS FREE!"

"SET THE DRAGONS FREE!"

"SET THE DRAGONS FREE!"

The riders mounted their dragons, and many villagers hopped up to settle in behind them.

Hiccup mounted Stormfly, looked up at Toothless, and whispered, "I'm coming for you, Bud."

To everyone else, he shouted, "Riders! Ascend!"

########

* * *

########

Eret quickly exhaled and hunched down low as his dragon lurched up into the sky, a trick he had learned to better handle the whiplash. Judging by the gasps and pained grunts from behind, it sounded like his fellow riders already forgot that tip.

He grinned at the thought that he couldn't have planned it better if he tried. In the end, there were only four of his former crew who actually wanted to fly out with him. Since nobody dared attempt to ride the Timberjack, which would have required a specially designed wooden saddle, anyway, according to one of Fishlegs' rambling anecdotes, there were only four dragons to be ridden. Grunt would not have allowed them to proceed if she was not thoroughly convinced that they'd be allies instead of enemies upon release, so once Eret made it clear that he was taking off momentarily with or without the crewmen, they scrambled to haul out some fish for the dragons to eat and some rope to secure themselves to their backs.

"You good, Unn?" Eret asked, looking back at his former first mate.

Unn shouted over, "Odin's beard, I think I broke my back in five different places! This Nadder kicks like a mule!"

Eret waved it off. "Just keep low. You gotta stay loose if you don't want to embarrass yourself like a landlubber at sea." Looking over to the other Nadder and the Nightmare, he said, "Jorge, Noam, looks like you're getting the hang of it."

"I think I soiled my britches," Noam said.

"Weee!" Oskar shouted from atop his Gronckle. "C'mon, Gronk! Faster! Faster!"

Eret gave him a flat stare. "Please tell me you did not name your Gronckle 'Gronk'."

"Tell me again, what's your Hobblegrunt's name?" Oskar asked with a smirk. He stuck out his tongue and then promptly cried out in pain when they hit some choppy wind. "Ow! I it ay ongue!"

"Point," Eret conceded, "and sorry I forgot to warn you. Flying can be smooth as butter one moment, then choppy as a storm-tossed sea the next. Just stay low and loose."

They flew to the cliffs of Berk, skirting around the swarm of dragons over the Bewilderbeast. From below, he could hear the entire village roaring four words, over and over again. "Set the dragons free! Set the dragons free!"

Eret snapped his fingers and said, "Damn, I forgot! Grunt, quick, tell me how many extra people you can handle on your back?" He patted the scales behind him and the dragon clicked her tongue once. "Good," he pointed to the Monstrous Nightmare. "And you, dragon, Nightmare, how many? Can you count?" The dragon looked at Grunt and the two chittered back and forth a few times before he clicked three times. Eret looked up at Jorge and said, "Got that? Three passengers, no more. Don't let them overload your dragon in their excitement."

The other dragons quickly joined in counting off what they could handle. From the village, the Hooligan riders ascended on their dragons in a flurry of wings, along with their extra passengers. The Night Fury leaped up from his perch on the Bewilderbeast's tusk and shot into the air as thousands of dragons turned the sky into a violent cloud of scales and wings.

Eret leaned down low and said, "The helm is yours, Grunt. Take us in."

The dragon chirped and complied, folding her wings in tight to shoot straight down. Eret hunched low and held on for dear life as the dragon effortlessly twisted, rolled, and whirled around faster than he ever thought possible. Grunt flared her wings at the last moment to land hard and fast in the center of the dispersing crowd of Vikings.

"You must be Eret," a solidly built man with a black beard said.

"I am," Eret said as he gestured with a flick of his head. "Wanna join me?

The man heaved himself up and said in way of introductions, "Spitelout. How many?"

"One passenger only," Eret said. "Ready?"

"Ready!"

Eret stole a quick look around at his former crew, whose dragons were being laden in like manner. He was about to shout at one of the Hooligans, who would have been the third rider on one of the Nadders. The dragon had clicked off two as his limit, but before Eret could say anything, the dragon shook his passengers until someone hopped down with a grumble.

Grunt coiled her legs and shot up. Spitelout gasped and wheezed out, "Never gets old." As they ascended into the cloud of dragons, he said, "Hey, dragon-" he nudged Eret. "What's the name?"

"I call her Grunt," Eret said.

"Uh-huh. Grunt, see if you can find Kingstail. He's my dragon. Deadly Nadder. Sea-green back, copper streaks."

As they flew on, dodging and twisting hostile dragons, Eret shouted back, "There are thousands of dragons here. You can't honestly expect us to find _your_ dragon in this bloody mess. Just pick one, like-"

Grunt cut him off with a loud cawing and sharp change of direction. "There he is!" Spitelout shouted. "C'mere, you sparky lizard!"

Grunt slammed into the Nadder from above and Spitelout jumped down. Their dragons swooped past the Bewilderbeast's head, laying down a gout of fire along the way. They dove in to land by a storage shed and Eret hunched low, trusting his dragon to know what she was doing.

Looking around, it was clear that all the villagers had dispersed into small groups to make it harder for the Bewilderbeast to get them, just like Tord's army when they invaded Valka's dragon sanctuary. Unlike those soldiers, though, whenever a dragon dove down to attack, the villagers were taking them down safely with bolas so they could hop on and free the dragons from the mind control. Barrels of fish were hauled out and dumped on the ground to feed the famished, newly-freed dragons and to lure the enthralled ones down where they could be ambushed and freed from the mind control.

Grunt landed and a dozen people rushed up. "Only one, please!" he shouted. Spitelout landed nearby on his Nadder and said, "Double that for Kingstail."

Grunt took off and they delivered their passenger to a dragon, then they swooped down in another flaming run at the Bewilderbeast on the way to pick up another passenger. The tides of the battle started to visibly shift as more and more of the Hooligan tribe became airborne and more dragons were taken from the control of Drago's blinded and enraged Bewilderbeast. There were more dragons than riders, but this was only one phase of the plan.

After the fifth delivery, Eret said, "Grunt, you've been flying hard and hauling a lot for your petite size." To his amusement, the dragon looked back and rolled her eyes at that last bit. "Let's set down in a quiet place for a moment and catch our breath."

Grunt shook her head side to side and dove down at the Bewilderbeast. "Alright," Eret conceded, "if you're sure."

A couple of deliveries later, the dragon was noticeably flagging, and Eret said, "C'mon, girl. There's a quiet spot down there for a breather. You deserve a rest." He was not surprised when she responded by diving at the Bewilderbeast instead.

By now, the Bewilderbeast was in a frenzy. They had been herding it along the cliffside, away from the village, slowly but surely. The beast was thrashing wildly and shooting out geysers of icy mist that froze into shards on impact, trying to ward off the increasing number of dragons diving in to flame its face.

They delivered another Viking to her dragon and swooped down into another fire run. As they leveled out, something slammed into Grunt from below. Eret was thrown upwards, but he managed to hold on and stay on the dragon's back. However, as Grunt recovered her flight, an enthralled Monstrous Nightmare tackled them. Its claws dug in and it arched its neck to bite down on Grunt.

Eret pulled out his sword, but he hesitated. This was not just an animal. Grunt was initially just some random Dragon that he happened to find, and he had come to see her as a friend and an equal. The same would no doubt hold true for this Nightmare. Impaling the dragon's neck with his sword suddenly didn't seem so cut-and-dry anymore.

The Nightmare ended up deciding for him. Its head snapped forward and rows of long, sharp teeth sunk in around the base of Grunt's wing. Grunt shrieked in pain and blood spurt on Eret and the Nightmare.

"No!" Eret cried out. Before he had time to think, he had thrust his sword through the Nightmare's neck and was roughly jerking it up and down to shred the esophagus. He hated the Nightmare for attacking his friend, and he hated himself for killing the Nightmare.

Even as it was dying, the Nightmare's jaws remained clamped down tight around Grunt. They were arcing right at the Bewilderbeast's head and the sight of so much blood from both dragons sent Eret into a light-headed panic.

"What do we do?!" he cried out.

Grunt flapped her one good wing as well as she could and managed to angle the Nightmare below her to act as a cushion when they fell onto the Bewilderbeast's massive head.

"This cannot be good," Eret said. He tried to pry the Nightmare's jaws open, but they would not budge. He had lost his sword amid the frenzied flying, but he still had his hand ax, which he pulled out as he steeled himself to chop the head from the neck. It would not be clean nor quick, but he would do it for Grunt.

Grunt craned her head around to look back at him and gave him a lick. Eret frantically looked around and saw enthralled dragons shooting straight for them. The Bewilderbeast flicked its head up and they were sent airborne. Grunt flicked her head to snag her teeth into Eret's coat, then she flung him to the side.

The wind was knocked out of Eret's lungs as he landed hard on the back of another dragon. He scrambled around to look at Grunt but immediately wished he hadn't. All he could do was impotently watch in horror as Grunt and the Nightmare still attached to her fell into the gaping maw of the Bewilderbeast. The teeth came down and ground them both into sausage.

"Grunt!" Eret choked out. "No, this cannot be happening." He started screaming, "No! Why?! No!"

He beat his fists in frustration against the back of the dragon on which he sat, ignoring the bruised skin and bloody knuckles he was giving himself. His vision turned blurry as tears sprang up. It all happened so fast, and the impact of the loss overwhelmed his senses.

As the heat of the moment started to settle down, he blinked the tears away and looked around. The new dragon he landed on was taking them away from the Bewilderbeast and landed among a cluster of houses. Villagers rushed up, but they stopped short.

"Skullcrusher?" one of them said in uncertainty.

Another said, "Yeah, that's Stoick's dragon. What's this bloke doing on him?"

For the first time, Eret paid attention to the dragon on which he sat, and for the first time, he realized he was in a saddle. A seat with a backrest was fastened atop the dragon's wide back by broad leather straps. Carapace plates armored the dragon's torso and neck, a feature of Rumblehorns. A horned head tilted to the side so the dragon could take a good look at Eret.

"What are you doing on Skullcrusher?" one of the villagers demanded.

Eret looked out to the Bewilderbeast. "She's… gone," he said.

The Bewilderbeast lurched sideways and stumbled closer. Eret was flung wildly and clung tight as Skullcrusher reared up on his hind legs. A Monstrous Nightmare slammed into him, but his carapace plates deflected the claws. Eret could see and feel the shock of the impact ripple through the whole of Skullcrusher's frame, but he stood undaunted. Skullcrusher twisted his head, using his horns to slam the Nightmare into the ground, and he stepped onto the dragon's neck just below the head.

Eret forced his mind back to the present. He had endured loss before, and focusing on the mission at hand was the best cure.

"Well don't just stand there picking your nose!" he scolded the villagers as they stared in amazed silence. "Somebody get on that dragon! Now! We don't have all bloody day!"

A Viking with a bucket on his head snapped back to reality and jumped up on the neck of the flailing dragon. A shadow fell on Eret and he was barely able to react to another diving dragon by sliding down to cling to the strap along Skillcrusher's side. The plummeting dragon hit Skullcrusher's back and bounced off, landing in a heap. Some villagers held it down while one of them leaped onboard and the dragon quickly settled down.

Another shadow fell over Eret and he swung to cling on under Skullcrusher's head. Skullcrusher rolled over to pin the Nadder down so somebody could hop on.

Eret hoisted himself back into the saddle and another shadow fell over him.

"Well," he said to Skullcrusher with a grin, "I guess we have our work cut out for us. When it rains, it pours!"

* * *

 **A/N:**

Thanks for reading, and thank you Colorful Crayola for being my beta buddy. I'm probably gonna get some sour looks for what I did to Grunt, but I suppose I could do worse (foreboding foreshadowing).

Dragonrider's Fury, thanks for sticking with me. Yup, Eret's crew has certainly been quite open-minded. Just another application of Hiccup being a dragon apostle, with the newly-converted Eret dragging others onto a dragon's back. ;)


	25. Entombed

**Entombed**

Stormfly let out a jubilant caw as she delivered yet another land-strider to her dragon. Making sure that each rider ended up freeing the dragon they usually rode entailed extra time and some minor risk, but it made both rider and dragon so much more effective.

From her back, Firefly whooped with joy as they dove down and flamed at the great sea dragon's eyes. They shot away and landed to bring two more land-striders to their dragons. The flock of enthralled dragons was thinning as the flock of free dragons expanded. The wind was shifting and the situation was looking as good as anyone could hope for this part of the plan.

However, it wasn't all fun and games. Stormfly saw riders leaping for their dragons but missing and falling to their deaths. That new rider and the dragon he called Grunt were doing very well, but Grunt took a very unlucky hit and ended up as food for the great sea dragon. Dragons and land-striders alike fell from the sky as the furious maelstrom of claws and fangs claimed more victims.

As unfortunate as these losses were, Stormfly knew that Firefly saw all this, too, but the discipline he was exercising to keep his focus on the prey was impressive considering his usual soft-hearted tendencies.

The heel of Firefly's foot dragged down along Stormfly's side and she trilled in amusement.

 _{I don't have a tailfin for you to control, Firefly.}_

The land-strider growled out a little apology and looked ahead again.

 _{You're doing very well, Firefly. I know this cannot be easy for you.}_

He grumbled an acknowledgment.

 _{I'm very proud of you, and I'm sure Toothless is too.}_

They both flicked their gaze to said dragon. Toothless was rapidly flicking around the flock, but he was tired. All the enthralled - and formally enthralled - dragons were tired; they were given no opportunity to rest for the whole flight over, and they probably haven't had any opportunities to eat anything except for the occasional fish they could snap up by the surface along the way. Stormfly and the other dragons that carried riders to this island were stronger as they had fed and slept along the way, even though the nap was short. They were able to outfly these tired dragons with relative ease.

Stormfly felt Firefly's conviction solidify as he confirmed what she suspected; it was time for the next part of the plan. She called all the free dragons to form up on her flanks. They would push through and make a way to Toothless, whose heightened ability to project his thoughts - or his rider's chaotic thoughts - would disrupt the sea dragon's mind snare so the dragons could all unite and take him down for good.

Firefly flicked his head left and right, taking in the carnage all around. He let out a sad little moan of dismay, but his eyes flicked down to Stormfly's and he forced himself to sit up straight and press on, preparing himself mentally for what they were about to do.

Stormfly gave an encouraging chirp. _{Toothless has always been yours, Firefly, and he always will be. He is your dragon now; you just have to free him.}_

Firefly roared the order to attack. Hundreds of dragons and their riders dove into the enthralled flock. Pained shrieks erupted from all sides as injured dragons and land-striders fell, torn up by fang and claw. Stormfly had to shake her rider back to reality as he watched them limply tumble down to the waves below.

The land-strider warlord on the black dragon's back saw the attack coming and responded by commanding his enthralled dragons to intercept. The freed dragons were still outnumbered three-to-one, but overwhelming the opposition was not the goal. All they had to do was to reunite Firefly with his dragon so that he could work his land-strider magic.

That would be no easy task, though, even without the enthralled flock. Even though Toothless was tired and hungry, he was still a very fast, agile, and ferocious dragon. The heavy land-strider he was forced to bear on his back kicked at him and hit him, but he only had so much to give. Still, his kind was known for their great bursts of raw power when threatened.

Stormfly had a plan to ensure her safe delivery of Firefly to his dragon, one that Firefly would vehemently detest, and she only hoped he would forgive her in time. As all the dragons around her made a path, she shot straight at the black dragon, teeth bared and claws flared. She knew that Toothless was quick. She knew he was in a rage. She knew that, even in his weakened state, she could never defeat him let alone catch him.

However, she didn't have to catch him. _He_ would catch _her_. Stormfly flew in with the genuine intent to kill, and the prideful Night Fury responded as anticipated, even while enthralled. With a great thrust of his wings, he hopped a little higher and shot down at her with his claws outstretched to smite any who would dare to challenge him.

An instant before impact, Stormfly flicked a wing to roll upside-down, placing her body between Firefly and the imminent danger. She knew that the name of Toothless was a comical misnomer, but she wasn't prepared for the intense agony of his crushing bite as his teeth sank into her shoulder and neck. She knew his claws were sharp, but the searing pain as they dragged gouges in her belly stole her breath away.

The black dragon tore at Stormfly with murderous intent, but she had no regrets. With Toothless's fury focused solely on her, Firefly had a safe opportunity to reunite with him. The land-strider stared in shock, but Stormfly managed to rasp out a hiss to spur him to action. An instant later, the black dragon repositioned his maw for another bite and Stormfly was choking on her own blood.

Firefly leaped and latched onto the saddle on Toothless, pulled out his little shiny claw, and plunged it into the warlord's leg. The large land-strider looked down in irritation and positioned his shiny claw to impale the rider, but at that instant, something slammed him off the dragon's side and Firefly scrambled up into the saddle. Toothless released his grip on Stormfly as his mind and body came back under his own control, but the damage was done.

As she fell, Stormfly closed her eyes and resigned herself to her fate. She tried to ignore the intense pain, trying to focus on projecting a single thought. Even though Firefly could not hear her without contact, it was the intent that counted.

 _{I'm proud of you, Firefly.}_

Everything faded away when she smacked into the choppy water.

########

* * *

########

Everything happened too fast. Hiccup's head spun, but he pressed onward. He choked down his cry of outrage and dismay at the sacrifice Stormfly had made. Toothless had only a moment of tearing and thrashing at her before he was freed from the mind snare, but that was still enough to leave her limply falling into the sea in a pluming spray of blood.

Hiccup loathed himself. Looking back, it was so obvious! Stormfly was trying to warn him before the fighting even began. It burned to realize that she did this for his sake.

 _Eyes on the prey!_ he reminded himself. If for no other reason, he would press on because that was Stormfly's last wish. He would not dishonor her by disobeying her final request.

With one hand gripping the broad leather strap that secured the saddle to Toothless, he grabbed his belt knife with his free hand, pulled it out, and thrust it into Drago's leg. From above, he heard the roar of a Monstrous Nightmare and a battle cry pierce through the loud cacophony of thousands of shrieking dragons. Through tear-blurred vision, he could see Tord shooting through the air, sword outstretched. He slammed into Drago sword-first, impaling the warlord through the belly and taking them both overboard.

Hiccup forced himself to ignore what fate awaited them. As Toothless started to pitch to the side, he folded his wings and allowed himself to plummet, granting Hiccup a moment of weightlessness to quickly swing into the saddle. Hiccup tried not to notice the bruises and puncture wounds on Toothless' neck and shoulders from Drago's fists and bullhook.

 _{Firefly! My precious Firefly! After what I've done to you, you actually came back for me!}_ Toothless was projecting a torrential rush of joy and relief at having regained control of himself and being reunited with his rider, but even that was overpowered by the immense grief and regret for the things he clearly remembered having done while under the mind snare.

"It's alright," Hiccup curtly said. "Eyes on the prey!"

 _{Don't tell me it's alright! I attacked Stormfly! I tried to kill you! I killed your sire! I tore off his head right in front of you!}_

"Not your fault," Hiccup grunted out through clenched teeth as he fought to work the tailfin.

A distant part of his mind was raging at the emotional trauma that Drago and his damned Bewilderbeast had brought upon Toothless, but he forced himself to focus on the task at hand. The control pedal wasn't moving properly. The tailfin was locked in position for straight flying, just as it was designed to, but the locking mechanism was supposed to release when he put weight on the pedal. Something was wrong.

Toothless let out a lamenting roar. _{I can still taste his blood!}_

"Toothless!" Hiccup snapped. The dragon whined and looked back at him with a timid sort of petulance. "We'll talk about it later. Eyes! On! The! Prey!"

Toothless whined and swallowed. He then yelped as a Timberjack nearly decapitated him. A quick roll evaded that threat, but dragonfire bathed him as a result and he twisted around to keep his rider out of it. An enthralled Nadder tried to tangle with him, and a Monstrous Nightmare joined in, but he managed to slip away from them.

Hiccup grunted in frustration as the tailfin control pedal seized up and snapped off. The saddle shifted and he barely managed to reach an arm forward for Toothless to grab with a gummy maw as the entire saddle and tailfin assembly was stripped away in a smoking mess of burning leather.

Hiccup gulped.

"Oh boy!" he said in dismay.

 _{Firefly, hold on tight!}_

Hiccup complied, wrapping his arms around his dragon's neck. Toothless desperately held his rider with his forelegs against his chest as he tumbled down. Landing without a tailfin was something they had practiced before, so they knew how to handle it. Extend the wings, glide for a moment, inevitably tilt to the side because of the missing tailfin, roll around to extend the wings again, and repeat. After a few mid-air tumbles, Toothless managed to land atop a cliff in one piece, taking the brunt of the impact with his hind legs for his rider's sake.

Hiccup tumbled out of his dragon's grasp. He then realized that he lost contact with Toothless, so he scrambled to his feet and lunged to protect him from the mind snare.

"Toothless, remember what you did on Dragon Island, way back when Dad shackled you to a boat and sailed there with you?" he asked. "You said one of us Hooligans touched you when they pulled up onto the beach and-"

 _{Yes, yes. I projected his chaotic thoughts as loud as I could and it disrupted the demonic queen's grip on their minds. However, though his range is nowhere near as great as hers, his mind snare is much stronger.}_

"Well try anyway!" Hiccup insisted. "We don't have much of a plan if this doesn't work."

Toothless took a deep breath and started to thrum with concentration as his sensor lobes began to stiffen and pulsate, seeking the perfect position and alignment to project his thoughts loud and clear. If imagination was the magic ingredient to free the dragons, then Hiccup figured it would help to be as imaginative as possible. He imagined a beard on the Bewilderbeast, the water as clouds, and the clouds as stones. In his mind's eye, the Bewilderbeast was a speckled pebble on the beach, and each speck was a star in the sky, and each star was a grain of sand, and each grain of sand was a world, and each world had uncountable speckled pebbles, and so on. The cliff tops sang, the mountains rose up and ran away, the sea floated up and shot geysers down into the abyss below. Every wacky, silly thing that came to mind, Hiccup focused on that and expanded upon it.

Toothless dedicated himself wholly to projecting the chaos in his rider's mind as loud as he could. His whole body quivered from the effort, blood dribbled from his nostrils and his eyes were scrunched shut in concentration.

It wasn't enough.

The enthralled dragons barely faltered before the Bewilderbeast fought back and regained absolute control over them.

"Oh, bravo!" Drago sneered. Hiccup snapped his eyes down to see him strangling Tord with his one hand. He tossed Tord's limp body over the cliff, yanked a dagger out from the back of his shoulders, and casually pulled out the longsword that had impaled his abdomen. "You put up a good fight, little insect. I was quite entertained, but mere mortals never really stood a chance."

Toothless was flabbergasted and felt entirely defeated. _{How is this possible? What now, Firefly?}_

"Backup plan!" Hiccup shouted in frantic anger. He saw only red. "We fight with fire. Kill it! Kill the Bewilderbeast! Kill Drago! Do what it takes to end this war _NOW_! KILL! KILL! KILL!"

Drago used the bloody longsword in his hand to point to the Bewilderbeast, which fixed its gaze on him. He then gestured to Hiccup and Toothless with a smirk on his face.

Hiccup gulped. Toothless growled.

Toothless fired off a blast of his purple-white fireball. It sailed through the air and exploded in the Bewilderbeast's face, but it was unphased by the attack. The Bewilderbeast opened its mouth and let out a deluge of ice. Toothless shifted to flatten Hiccup to the ground to protect him, but he knew it was a vain gesture.

Hiccup knew, in that instant, that it was all over. He had failed.

########

* * *

########

Hiccup slowly let out the breath he was holding. He didn't dare move.

What felt like an eternity passed, and nothing happened. Nothing moved. Even encased in an icy tomb, he would expect to hear the muted sounds of his friends fighting a losing battle, the reverberations of the Bewilderbeast stomping on the ground, something, _anything_!

Light dimly filtered in, and though the ice was far too hazy to make out any shapes, he expected there should be at least some perception of motion, shadows shifting, something like that. However, the only thing he could perceive was absolute, perfect stillness and silence.

He wriggled out from underneath his dragon and leaned on the curled tail to look around. They were in a small pocket of empty space within the icy tomb. Nothing moved. Toothless was as still as stone.

Panic set in at the thought of learning that Toothless had died protecting him. He needed to look into his dragon's eyes, so he scrambled around, squeezing along between the scaly hide and the jagged icy walls. The ceiling was very low, but he managed to hunch down and shimmy up to his dragon's head to stare into his eyes.

Toothless was wide-eyed, mouth agape as he was building up a fireball, pupils slit in concentration, staring straight ahead. The green gas in his mouth could be seen in wispy currents, frozen in motion as it was swirling around to form a cohesive ball. Hiccup felt like he was staring at a painting. All of time seemed to have ground to a halt.

He wracked his brain, trying to figure out what had happened. He knew he was dead, but which realm was this? Certainly not Valhalla; that was the realm for those who died gloriously in battle, especially those who died to dragonfire, and the blast of super-cold ice from the Bewilderbeast would have been quite the opposite. Therefore, this must be Helheim, the frozen shore of corpses, but even there, Vikings would be eating, fighting, drinking, sleeping: the usual Viking lifestyle. This icy tomb was nothing more than a frozen instant of time, an eternal memorial of his last and greatest failure.

"Toothless?" Hiccup timidly queried his friend. "Are… you…"

He knew it beyond any doubt, but he couldn't say it. Toothless was dead. This was some sort of sick joke by the gods, an afterlife spent watching Toothless in his final moment as he died to protect his worthless rider.

Hiccup fell to his knees and leaned his head against his dragon's foreleg, weeping. He wished he could die in the afterlife and cease to exist forever.

"My fault," he whimpered. "All my fault, Bud. You could never say no to me, never could deny my request, and I-" he choked on his breath. "I took advantage of that. I took advantage of… of _you_."

He broke down in a fit of sobbing. "I wish I never shot you down!" he wailed. "If only I was never born! If only Dad threw me off a cliff when he saw his child was weak and worthless!"

There was no reply from the dragon's motionless body. The torso never swelled with breath, no sound of a heartbeat could be heard, the eyes did not see.

"Gods," Hiccup choked out through the tears and running nose, "I've been so selfish. I used you. I used Dad. I always ignored everyone. I did so many stupid things, knowing there could be consequences, and now you and Dad payed the price for me-" he took a shuttering breath, "the price for my actions."

He wrapped his arms around the motionless leg and pressed his face into the cold scales. Tears trickled in glistening waterfalls down the scales. He used his sleeve to wipe at his eyes and nose and whimpered in resignation, "The gods hate me."

"Not all of them," a baritone voice boomed out.

Hiccup jerked his head up and looked behind him to see a man standing inside the icy tomb. Well, not standing so much as hunched over. It was hard to tell in the dim light, but he seemed to have a muscular build and light-colored hair, maybe blond.

The stranger looked up with an annoyed expression and said, "Really, old man, could you have given me any _less_ space in here to work with?"

Hiccup scrambled to his feet, pressing his back against Toothless' shoulder. If Loki really was behind Drago's rise to power, he had a strong suspicion who this was.

"What is this?" Hiccup asked, bewildered. "A prank? A joke? You think it's funny to make me spend my afterlife watching Toothless die? Please, don't do this! Wipe me from existence, I don't care, but don't let him die because of-"

The stranger cuffed Hiccup across the face with the back of his hand. "Shush," he hissed. "You think I have nothing better to do than stand in this cramped space and listen to you whine?" He took a deep breath and said more calmly, "The Night Fury isn't dead."

Hiccup slumped back against his dragon. He gestured in the direction of the Bewilderbeast that made this icy tomb, "I suppose it would be funny were it not so sad. Toothless and I took down the Red Death, which could fly, but our fates were sealed by what is essentially a fish out of water."

The stranger gave Hiccup a disapproving look. "Killing the Red Death was what caused this situation, foolish child." At Hiccup's gasp and raised eyebrows, he said, "Tyr was given permission to experiment with creating dragons, but only if he could keep them contained. The expansive sea surrounding this frozen corner of your realm was a start, but they were meant to be controlled, designed for that purpose. The Red Death you so proudly brought down was that containment measure."

Numbly, Hiccup said, "Created? Contained?

Ignoring him, the stranger continued, saying, "He was always dreaming big and running ahead recklessly, and now we have to clean up his mess." He took a breath, and with an amused smile at Hiccup, he said, "Reminds me of a certain _someone_. I told him the Red Death wouldn't last forever and he'd need some other solution."

Hiccup indignantly retorted, "But- but the Red Death was _using_ the dragons! It turned them into fodder, fetchers of food! It was-"

"You never stopped to question why the dragons are telepathically sensitive?" the stranger mused. "What other purpose than to control them? They're _designed_ to have a master, to _need_ one." He sneered. "You just had to meddle with it all, didn't you?"

Hiccup gasped at that, partly because it sounded blasphemous, and partly because he could recognize the truth behind it. After the Red Death was destroyed, the dragons formerly in her thrall felt lost and dazed for a while. Many of them dove into the ocean to drown themselves. Others scattered to the winds, but the majority flocked towards the home of those who killed their former overlord. They couldn't all stay on Berk, so they nested on some nearby islands, but even then, each island had a dragon who fought his or her way to alpha status. The dragons who accepted riders admitted that it felt comforting to give up a portion of their freedom to fly their riders around. Toothless always insisted that he was Hiccup's wings and fire.

Hiccup's eyes snapped up to the direction of the Bewilderbeast, though he could discern nothing through the ice. He couldn't accept it. Dragons were some experiment of the gods, and the Red Death the means to keep them from wandering too far? Loki and his Bewilderbeast and their reign of terror was simply a means to rebuild what Hiccup and Toothless destroyed five years ago? Ridiculous! Preposterous!

"But the Red Death's existence _caused_ this situation!" Hiccup retorted. "I know what happened to Drago's village, and what led up to it. Night Furies and their act of desperation in razing Breakneck Island was a direct result of the Red Death scourging them. If there was no Red Death, Drago would be the chief of the Breakneck tribe instead of the monster he is now."

The stranger shrugged. "The Red Death was growing old, anyway. Loki saw an opportunity and used Drago to put a plan into action. It was a hasty plan, though, that he refused to abandon, even when Odin himself demanded he cease."

"But… but…" Hiccup sputtered out.

The stranger seemed to find Hiccup's bewilderment to be amusing. "I'm always amazed at the capacity you mortals have of denying what you see and know to be true." He reached forward and tapped the base of the Night Fury's neck, where it joined the shoulders and back. "Press very firmly right here sometime, harder than you normally would. You'll feel a small bone inside shift and something interesting will happen."

He hefted an oddly-shaped warhammer that Hiccup hadn't noticed before. Arcs of blue-white lightning crackled along its surface. If there was any doubt before, it was wiped away. This was Thor in the flesh. He positioned his warhammer in front of Toothless' maw, which he pried open a little further so he could push the warhammer in between his rows of teeth.

"Wh-what are you doing?!" Hiccup demanded in alarm.

"What I find myself doing far more often than I'd like. Fixing a problem my brother created," Thor said. "We'll find a way to contain this mess, but your little pet will make sure this fiasco doesn't blow up anymore. He just needs a little more power." Hiccup was about to demand that Toothless wasn't a pet, but he bit his tongue. "Can't have too many souls passing beyond so quickly," Thor casually added.

The hammer started to glow a deep blue. Lightning arced from the hammer and coursed through the dragon's body.

"Please don't hurt him! I beg you!" Hiccup blurted out.

With his free hand, Thor pressed a palm to Hiccup's forehead and shoved him away. "This one is far too rare. I wouldn't want to lose him. Offspring of lightning and death, after all."

As the crackling settled down, Hiccup timidly asked, "Is he the last of his kind?"

Thor paused in thought for a moment. "That's… not an easy question to answer."

Hiccup looked at the ground, "So, yes, then."

"Not what I meant." He straightened as much as the confined space permitted. "I'm done here. You know what to do."

"And what if I refuse to be your pawn?" Hiccup asked.

The stranger rolled his eyes. "Funny boy. Either you or the Bewilderbeast dies today." He started to turn away, but he stopped and said, "You may want to get under your dragon."

Hiccup followed his stare and noticed a faint blue glow emanating from the Night Fury's open maw and nostrils. The volatile fuel in his mouth was starting to slowly swirl around, as if time was lethargically swinging back into motion again. He dove under Toothless' folded wing and hastily crawled under his torso, snugging into the tight space where he felt the safest.

A low thrum emanated from Toothless, growing in intensity and pitch until it morphed into the familiar banshee shriek of a Night Fury on a fire run. The entire dragon's frame quivered and rattled as air rushed through his lungs to prepare the blast and Hiccup never felt so relieved in his entire life.

He covered his ears. This was going to be very loud.

* * *

 **A/N:  
** So, yeah, that just happened. I totally went there! Kudos to toothlessgolfer for calling the faustian bargain. I hope I still gave ya something interesting and unexpected in all this.

Oh, and if you're saying, "But wait, Thor is the _good_ guy, except when you tell him to 'put the hammer down'. I've seen all the Marvel movies and I know that as a fact!" Well, I did some research, and it seems that he and his brother were both jerks.

QueenBookDragon, thanks for dropping a line! Yeah, sorry about Grunt… and Firefly - I mean Stormfly. Oops, had a Freudian slip there. :P

Dragonrider's Fury, yep, I had a lot of fun with Stormfly. I figured a bit of Astrid's personality would naturally seep into her dragon. I'm glad you weren't too bothered by what happened to Grunt. I hope the same holds for Stormfly. ;)


	26. Destroyed

**Destroyed**

BOOM!

Toothless scrunched his eyes shut as his own fireball exploded in front of his nose. A wave of intense heat blossomed over his scales. The force of the explosion slammed his head to the ground. Even through the flaps that covered his ears, it sounded as if the whole world was fracturing and ripping apart.

It was only a small fireball, one with the emphasis on temperature more than a concussive shockwave.

When he opened his eyes, he saw chunks of ice flying away in all directions. A few fragments clung to his tail, but they were quickly dislodged by slapping them against the ground.

He was no longer concerned about whether he could win this fight. _I was disoriented and confused from having just escaped the mind snare. That is why I almost died to his ice_ , he told himself. _Now, I am in control. It is time to demonstrate what happens to those who dare oppose a black dragon._

He flared his wings in bold defiance and roared angrily at the great sea dragon before him and the land-strider warlord who was using his shiney hooked claw to clamber up the creature's massive tusk. Those two had subdued his mind, humiliated him, and tortured him by making him attack those he loved. He was forced to attack Firefly, kill Stalwart, and tear Stormfly to shreds. It was time for revenge! It was time for them to die a painful death.

 _How would Firefly want to handle this situation, though,_ he couldn't help but ask himself.

Toothless flicked his head back to look at Firefly, who was crawling out from under him to stand.

It was not without reason that he always yielded to his rider's desires. Firefly had shot down a black dragon on a dark night. He spared said dragon's life when he had every reason to kill. He lifted up a dragon who had resigned himself to a land-bound life. Through his indomitable will, he made the caged dragons - who were wary strangers at that time - fly him across the sea to kill a demonic queen that could not be killed.

Yielding to Firefly's desires had become a conditioned response, and while it always drove Toothless crazy to see his rider show mercy when anyone else would bathe in blood, he recognized a certain clairvoyance guiding him. Even when Firefly had no plan and his decisions seemed objectively wrong, even blatantly suicidal, things would somehow work out and his hateful enemies would become his loyal allies.

Firefly walked up to press his hand against his dragon's snout and the two snarled at the enemies before them. _{Toothless, you know how I've always detested violence.}_

Toothless licked his lips and whined at his rider's admonition. It was something he knew he'd hear but still wished he didn't because he knew he would ultimately yield. Perhaps these enemies would also become Firefly's trusted allies someday in ways Toothless was hopeless to see at the moment.

Firefly looked at his dragon and clenched his teeth. _{It would be a surprise to hear me ask you to kill them, Toothless, but that is my request. End this fight now. Tear them apart and break them down. Make it loud!}_

Toothless looked at his rider, mouth agape. Firefly's whole body trembled with rage, face flushed, fingers clenched and knuckles white. He roared again at his dragon, _{KILL THEM NOW!}_

Toothless took a step forward with a growl in his throat, and the great sea dragon lowered his head in fear. The warlord struck his dragon with his shiny claw and roared at him to fight. Toothless gathered a fireball in his mouth, allowing it to build up as the shrill shriek of a black dragon on a fire run sounded out. The warlord hunched down behind the protection of a large spine on the sea dragon's head.

This was going to be _fun_!

A ball of pure death shot out and Toothless took a moment to enjoy the beauty of his creation. A brilliant indigo blaze reached forth with deadly intent to beat down all that was wrong in this world.

BOOM!

The boundary layer burst open on impact. The highly volatile core within ignited and instantly blossomed. The sky flashed white. The sun dimmed. The shockwave knocked the sea dragon back, leaving his front paws to flail in the air as he fought to avoid falling flat on his back. A cloud of snow and dust exploded into the air.

Behind him, land-striders picked themselves up off the ground.

Toothless roared in fury. _{That was for making me try to kill my rider!}_

Another fireball was already coalescing in his mouth as the great sea dragon slammed his front half down on top of the cliff again.

BOOM!

 _{And that was for Stalwart!}_

BOOM!

 _{And that was for Stormfly!}_

BOOM!

 _{And every dragon who suffered and died because of you!}_

With a sudden burst of energy, the great sea dragon leaped up the cliff and coiled his haunches to leap at Toothless with a ground-shaking roar.

BOOM!

The beast was slammed aside and sprawled out on the ground. Toothless could feel the mind snare waver and dissolve into nothing. The pressure on his mind eased.

The dragons were freed.

Toothless roared at them all as their alpha. _{All dragons to me! Lend me your fire!}_ He turned to the great sea dragon and snarled venomously. _{What do you have to say for yourself, miserable worm? Why obey this land-strider? Why shelter him from me? What are you hoping to gain?}_

There was no response save a whirlwind of wings as thousands of dragons flew to form up behind Toothless.

 _{Answer me, mewling cub! Speak if you value your life!}_

Still, no response. Toothless ran out of patience. _{Dragons, attack! Melt this sea dragon down! Boil his blood! Burn his flesh to ash!}_

Whether through a ravenous hunger for revenge or the compulsion of Toothless' indomitable will, the thousands of dragons instantly complied. Fire rained down in an all-consuming deluge of death. The sky lit up brighter than the sun. Burning fuel splattered and ran in rivulets along the sea dragon's scales like a torrential rain falling on stone. Toothless reared up to shelter his rider from the worst of the searing heat, and he could tell that Firefly flipped the eye protector down on his helmet down so he was covered from head to toe. Land-striders all around backed up from the inferno and turned aside against the relentless waves of terrible heat.

The sea dragon roared in pain, but he held fast to the clifftops. The warlord emerged from his cover and used his shiny claw to point at Toothless, roaring furiously. Toothless could feel the pressure of the sea dragon's mind struggling to control him, but it was a futile attempt. He would not allow himself to be dominated again.

For the first time, the warlord showed signs of true fear.

Toothless commanded the dragons to halt, allowing the sea dragon a moment of reprieve to whine piteously. Revenge along wasn't good enough. He wanted answers. _{Tell me why you serve the land-strider warlord, great sea dragon. Explain yourself!}_

There was no response. Toothless felt around with his sensor lobes to be sure he wasn't missing some subtle undercurrent of projected thoughts, but there was nothing from the creature beyond primal fear and pain.

He roared in frustration. _{Answer me, whimpering worm! Why do you serve this land-strider? Why don't you shake him off and be free of him? What madness has claimed you?!}_

Still, no response. Toothless gathered up another fireball in his mouth, taking his time to make it extra large.

BOOM!

The fireball struck the base of the sea dragon's left tusk, and the whole thing sheared off, landing heavily in a cloud of dust and snow. The warlord was thrown from his perch and tumbled down the remaining tusk. The sea dragon whimpered and whined, head pressed against the ground and radiating sorrow, blood pooling from the quick that the severed tusk exposed.

Toothless was about to command all the dragons to resume flaming their enemy when something suddenly snapped into place. He had never sensed anything from this sea dragon beyond primal emotions and the dominating will that made other dragons submit, and it wasn't until now that he realized why. The sea dragon was mature in body, but his mind was that of a hatchling. For his entire life, since the day he cracked his egg, he was trained not to think, hence the lack of thoughts to project. His life was that of a mindless thrall, controlled and used by the warlord, no more in control of himself than a dragon caught in a mind snare.

Toothless groaned in exasperation. The red started to fade from his vision as his rage settled down. Killing the great sea dragon suddenly felt wrong. He knew without a doubt, and he almost hated himself for recognizing it, allowing him to live and flee would be the right thing to do.

He took a step forward and let out a resigned sigh. _{These dragons here are no longer yours to command, great sea dragon. You have no flock. You are alone and despised, but I will not take your life today. Leave this place, now. Swim away and hope that you never see me again.}_

The sea dragon shifted a little, but he froze when the warlord started roaring at him. Toothless took another step forward and roared his own challenge. _{Turn around and swim away, sea dragon. I_ command _you to flee! OBEY!}_

The great sea dragon whimpered piteously, but he pushed back off the cliff and dove into the water, leaving behind nothing more than a mist of steam from the water against his fire-bathed scales.

On his back, Firefly inhaled sharply in disbelief at what he saw and Toothless swallowed in alarm. He realized he did not even acknowledge his rider in this decision and hoped any consequences could be resolved by licking his face.

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* * *

########

Hiccup dismounted, tore off his helmet, and stared at Toothless in absolute awe and wonder. He had been dead-set on killing the Bewilderbeast that had enslaved thousands of dragons, including his own dear Toothless, and was responsible for so much suffering and death. As much as Hiccup had always shied away from a violence, he had become numb to misery and loss today. He felt himself losing his grip on self-restraint and he had welcomed that. Looking back, he loathed what monster he had almost became.

He knew that Thor was using him as a pawn in his own family feud. He knew that killing the Bewilderbeast was playing right into the hands of a god that did not care for him at all, but doing so simply felt right. So what if that would force the gods to figure out another way to "contain the dragons"? He destroyed the Red Death, the Bewilderbeast was on the chopping block, and any other creature that would threaten those he loved would meet a similar demise.

That was who he had become and he hated it, but he accepted it.

Then, the entirely unexpected happened. In the throes of his furious rage, Toothless held back his fire and that of the other dragons. He allowed the Bewilderbeast to flee and live on. It was what Hiccup would have liked to think he would have done had he been of a sounder mind.

It was too much to take. Hiccup fell to his knees, eyes watering, croaking in laughter. He beat his fists on the ground and laughed until he was almost sobbing

 _{Firefly, I can't tell if you're relieved or upset. I'm sorry I let him live. I can't believe I'm saying this, but doing so just felt right.}_

Hiccup looked into the eyes of his dragon who was hunched over, examining him worriedly. "Why?" he asked.

Toothless nosed at Hiccup. _{A crazy land-strider once told me that life is a gift far more complex than any mind could ever comprehend and far more valuable than any creature could ever deserve.}_

Hiccup suddenly burst into roaring laughter. "He sounds like an interesting person I have to meet!" he shouted. After letting out another bout of laughter, he took a deep breath and said, "To think that Thor had me all figured out, that he could play me like a pan pipe, just like Loki did with Drago, and he was _right_!"

Toothless allowed his sensor lobes to lift a little off his head. _{So, you're not upset with me?}_

Hiccup threw himself at his dragon and embraced him in a hug. "No! Of course not! I was turning into a monster, and you pulled me back from the edge. To think that you just thwarted a _god_ when I was playing right into his hands!"

The sensor lobes flattened against Toothless' head and he gave his rider a flat stare. _{What are you talking about?}_

"Oh," Hiccup said, coming to himself, "you were kinda frozen at the time, but Thor appeared and he did a thing with his hammer and lightning to make you more powerful and he thought he had me figured out, that I would kill off the last Bewilderbeast to stop his brother and force the gods to figure out something else, and-"

He was cut off as Toothless retracted his teeth and clamped down on his head with a gummy maw. _{Let me get this straight. I used my fire to blast apart the ice that would have killed us. I blasted the great sea dragon into submission, and you want to give all the praise to those invisible, all-powerful beings you silly land-striders are always talking about?}_

Hiccup couldn't answer with how preoccupied he was laughing and spluttering on his dragon's saliva.

 _{Have I ever told you how silly you are? I know I have, but I'll tell you again. You are a very silly land-strider!}_

Valka ran up, trailed by Cloudjumper, and lifted Hiccup in a hug. Gobber, Spitelout, and everyone else rushed in to congratulate the two as well as each other for their victory that day.

"He's gone!" a deep, gravelly voice roared.

Everyone turned to see Drago standing by the edge of the cliff, looking out to sea. He turned to face Hiccup and bellowed, "He left me!"

The feral, maniacal glint had left his eyes and his posture stooped as if he carried a great weight. Hiccup couldn't put his finger on any on detail, but Drago looked like an entirely different person, like his spirit had been crushed, and grief, not hatred, had swallowed him whole.

Hiccup decided to keep a comfortable distance between himself and his foe regardless. Over the span, he said, "Of course the Bewilderbeast left. The only reason he ever obeyed you at all was because he never knew there was any alternative. All Toothless did was help him shed your yoke of oppression."

"Not that _thing_!" Drago shouted. "He promised me revenge!" He leveled a finger at Toothless, who growled warningly. "At you!"

"Him?!" Hiccup demanded incredulously. "You're worse than the Skrill. Toothless hadn't even cracked his egg when Breakneck Island was razed. He had _no_ part in your suffering!"

"It's a Night Fury! Same thing!" Drago insisted, pointing his broken bullhook at Toothless. "They took _everything_ from me!"

Hiccup slowly shook his head. "You have to let go of your past or it'll consume your future, Drago. I said it before and I'll tell you again, you will find peace within only by accepting how things are and forgiving those you hate."

"You don't know what it's like!" Drago spat out. "They're _all_ gone! I! Have! _Nothing_!"

Hiccup opened his mouth, but he had nothing to say. Everyone on Berk had endured loss in one way or another before making peace with the dragons, be it a father burned to ashes, a son plucked up and taken to the nest, or a mother torn apart as she herded her children to safety. Perhaps Drago could find the counseling he needed on Berk, but he would receive nothing. Hiccup saw the god playing puppeteer with Drago, but everyone else saw only a maniacal puppet that tried to kill them all.

"I… I…" Drago started to say, but he faltered. He fell to his knees and scrunched his eyes shut against the memories. Softly, he said to the ground, "I suppose, now that he's gone, I suppose…" he took a shuddering breath. "I was a fool. Nothing will ever bring them back. Nothing I can do can avenge them."

All around, Hiccup could feel the tension. Everyone wanted Drago's blood. Hiccup had too, but at some point, that desire had faded away. Now, he only felt bad for the man who had his spirit broken by forces beyond his control and his life controlled by forces beyond his understanding.

"I'm sorry," Hiccup said. "I know words won't fix anything, but I really am sorry. If you surrender yourself to us, I can promise you will not be tortured or humiliated." Dealing with this as his first act as chief sent shivers down his spine, especially knowing that everybody would be baying for the blood eagle, but Hiccup would hold his word. "If the council sentences you to death, I can promise it will be quick and honorable and-"

"No!" Drago snapped. "You don't understand, they're all gone. Passed beyond, torn up and burned down by dragonfire. They can never come back to me." He stood and hefted his bullhook. "But I can go to them."

Hiccup's mouth was bobbing as he tried to figure out how to respond to that when Drago suddenly charged at him with a fierce battle cry. Hiccup froze, paralyzed by the shock of the sudden change in Drago's behavior. Everyone jumped to attention and reached for their weapons, but Toothless beat them to action. A bright ball of fiery death shot forward. It struck true and exploded, tearing Drago's torso apart and throwing his body over the cliff to fall into the waters below.

Hiccup stared at Toothless, who whined worriedly. _{He would have killed you.}_

Hiccup nodded. "I know."

 _{You're not upset.}_ It was a statement more than a question.

Hiccup gently shook his head. "His tribe was sent beyond by dragonfire, taken into Valhalla, and he wanted to be with them again. You could say it was the last time he forced a dragon to do something, and it was the most selfless thing he's done in a long time." As much as he didn't want to think about it, Drago was dead one way or another, and Hiccup was relieved beyond words he wouldn't have to be part of the trial and execution of Drago.

Toothless gave his rider a long stare. Hiccup felt pin pricks under his skin under the unblinking intensity of the studious gaze.

 _{You're back to your old self, where you detest violence and love driving me crazy, aren't you?}_

Hiccup gave a weak smile and nodded. "Count on it." He took a deep, shaky breath. "But Drago wanted this, to find peace and keep my conscience clean at the same time. It was the single greatest act of kindness he could have done for me, and I don't feel like I deserve it."

Toothless licked his rider. _{You are a very silly land-strider!}_

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########

As everyone dispersed to pick up the pieces, to put out the fires so to speak, Hiccup had his work cut out for him. Many of his tribesmen looked to him for instruction since he was both the hero of the day and the heir-made-chief. Hiccup did not feel qualified to be called either.

"I, uhhh, I'm not… entirely sure…" he found himself saying to every question that rained down on him.

Gobber clapped him on the shoulder and said, "Lad, this ain't the first dragon raid we've had. You rest. We know how to recover." He then turned to the crowd and shouted, "A'ight, ya miserable bunch, here's what yer gonna do…"

Hiccup sagged in relief as he practically felt the pressure lifting off of him when Gobber, Spitelout, and Ack quickly organized everybody in the recovery efforts. Some homes were damaged or destroyed and temporary quarters would need to be set up in the great hall. Livestock was scattered far and wide and had to be rounded up again. Large chunks of ice were strewn about and needed to be melted down.

First and foremost, though, was to take care of the injured dragons and humans. Much to Hiccup's relief and surprise, he saw Tord flying in on his dragon, Intrepid. Without warning, he leaped at the man and embraced him in a hug.

"I can't believe you flung yourself at Drago like that, Tord!" Hiccup said excitedly. "You saved my life, and I thought you died!" He took a step back.

Tord looked at him and sarcastically said, "Sorry if I disappointed you." At an imploring look from Hiccup, he said, "I guided my dragon towards the Night Fury and, well, I had to make things right. The bastard survived, though, and choked me in a stranglehold and threw me off the cliff, and even though I couldn't speak, I silently called on the name of Jesus to cast out the devil spirit possessing Drago and to protect me. The Lord did both and sent an angel to stay my dragon's mind so that she could catch me before falling into thralldom again."

Toothless shoved his snout into Hiccup's hand. _{He's giving the credit to those invisible beings instead of thanking us for fighting against the mind snare, isn't he?}_

Hiccup chuffed at his dragon, but something Tord said caught his attention. "So, Intrepid is a 'she' instead of an 'it', now?"

Tord rolled his eyes. "The same sword that is used to kill one righteous man can also be wielded to save another."

Hiccup huffed. "I can't believe you're still clinging to your old ways," he said. "You may believe in different gods, but you can't deny that the dragons aren't the demons you supposed them to be."

"God, not gods," Tord said haughtily, "and I'm simply offering to help you cast off your sinful idolatry."

Hiccup grinned. "I had a chat today with Thor, God of Thunder, when we were in that icy tomb. Time ground to a halt and he zapped Toothless with power so he could take down the Bewilderbeast."

Tord rolled his eyes and said, "You saw a vision, boy. I prayed to the Lord for a miracle and that's exactly what we got. He sent an angel to ensure that I would see victory today, as confirmed by what you saw, and the angel presented himself in a manner that was familiar to you so you would see this through. It would not be the first time that the Lord has worked through unrighteous men and beasts."

Toothless groaned in annoyance. _{You silly land-striders and your nonsense about silly invisible gods.}_

Hiccup thought back to Thor's parting comment, and on impulse, shifted his idle petting to press a few knuckles against the dragon's spine at the base of his neck. He felt something shift inside, and the row of small dorsal fins lining the Night Fury's back split in twain, one by one in a ripple from neck to tail in rapid sequence. Toothless gave a relaxed moaned as he oozed into a puddle of scales and shared with his rider the mind-numbing sensation like his spine was cracking in the most pleasant way, like a catch in his back that he never knew was there had finally released and straightened out.

 _{My dearest Firefly, you have my permission to do that nonstop forever!}_

Hiccup grinned at his dragon. "Silly nonsense my foot!"

 _{I have no clue what you're talking about, but that was amazing.}_ With an immense, heroic effort, Toothless craned his neck around to look at his back. _{Were those always like that? You land-striders are magical creatures with your nimble fingers_ _.}_

Hiccup was about to suggest they fly and see how much that would tighten their turns when something pulled him back and spun him around. He barely had time to recognize Astrid's hand on elbow before she pulled a fist back and punched him in the shoulder.

"That's for Stormfly!" she said hotly.

Hiccup's face fell. In all the excitement, he completely forgot about her for how recently he had watched Toothless tear her to shreds with his teeth and claws. The thought suddenly crossed his mind that Astrid was his fiancée, and this would strain their relationship and make things very uncomfortable.

 _Foolish!_ he scolded himself. _Selfish! She loved that dragon as you love Toothless. A chief protects his own. You failed, and your greatest concern is if Astrid still likes you?_

Hiccup deflated and flung his arms around Astrid's shoulders. "Astrid, I'm so sorry!" he moaned.

"You let Toothless bite down on her neck and tear her belly to shreds!" Astrid shouted.

" _Let_ him?" Hiccup demanded, pulling back. "I didn't even know that she was going to-" He stopped suddenly. Astrid was grieving over her lost dragon; now was not the time. "I'm sorry. She was an amazing dragon." He buried his head into her shoulder pauldron and gasped out through the tears, "I can't believe she's gone!"

Astrid pulled him into a kiss. "And that's for saving us from a big, scary, mind-controlling dragon. Again."

Hiccup stared at the ground. All the praise in the world felt hollow and empty, knowing that Astrid was only putting on a brave face. He could only try to imagine the grief crushing her heart to pulp.

Toothless suddenly went stiff and his sensor lobes pulsated as he felt around. He was clearly having some unheard conversation as he looked over towards Gothi's hut by the cliff and gave a disapproving look at Astrid. She gave him a playful shove and said, "Oh, have some patience."

Hiccup swiped at his eyes and looked between the two. Something was up.

Toothless growled impatiently and Astrid said, "Alright, _fine_! Stormfly is alive. She lost a lot of blood and almost drowned before we could fish her out, but she'll survive." Turning back to Toothless, she said, "There, now you don't have to tell Hiccup anything else."

In disbelief and shock, Hiccup numbly said, "She's… not… dead?"

The dragon nosed her. "And Gothi and Valka say she'll pull through."

Hiccup's face went pale. He let out a wordless squeal and he clung onto Astrid so he wouldn't fall. "She…" he started to say, struggling to find his tongue.

Astrid casually continued, saying, "Her wing membrane has stitches, but it should heal up just fine, and the tendons and ligaments in her wing arm were nicked, but she should be up in the air again within a month."

"She's…"

Toothless nosed her again. "And she has a puncture in her throat and was choking on her own blood, but Gothi was able to use a shaved down stick to plug it up for a couple of days until it heals enough to pull it out. Until then, her neck and head are in a splint so she doesn't accidentally disrupt that."

"She's really…"

Toothless grumbled impatiently and nosed her again. "And Stormfly says that it's pure torture because all she wants to do is pull out that stick and play with it, but if she does, she'll die."

"She's… alive?" Hiccup squeaked.

Toothless took a half step towards his rider and looked at Astrid. "Don't you dare tell him I cried!" she hissed.

The dragon wedged his head between them. _{Stormfly wants me to tell you that she's very proud of you, by the way.}_

Hiccup swallowed. "Thanks."

Astrid playfully biffed Toothless on the snout. "That's for making me tell Hiccup that I cried. I _know_ you needled her for specifics!"

Toothless gave a gummy smirk and leaned forward, tilting his snout down while looking up at her. Astrid gave a great sigh of longsuffering and pecked a kiss on his forehead. "And that's for doing what you do best, you child of lightning and death."

Eventually, color returned to Hiccup's face and strength to his knees, so he pushed himself to face more trials ahead. The cause of so much suffering and death had been addressed, but the consequences lingered.

Most of the riderless dragons remained in the air, unsure of their surroundings or the inhabitants of the island. Valka had little trouble rallying the dragons from her sanctuary and assuring them that they could safely land in the forest that skirted the village so they could rest.

The remaining dragons were a much larger challenge as their only exposure to humans was when they were captured by dragon trappers and subdued by Drago and his Bewilderbeast. Some of them were only hatchlings when they were ripped from their natural lifestyle while others were more recent victims. Many were slaves from the moment they cracked their shell, so they had no clue there was any other way to live. All of them were cautious and distrustful of humans, but with the plethora of dragons who were willing and able to coordinate with the Vikings on the island, they ended up landing in the forest to rest before they fell out of the sky to exhaustion. Then, the more able-bodied dragons could bring them fish to replenish their strength.

Some of the dragons had iron plate mail formed to their torso, neck, and head. They had been enthralled straight out of the shell and didn't even realize that the iron sheets were not a natural part of their body. It was only their lifelong habit of submitting to their alpha - whom Toothless replaced - that allowed them to hold still while the armor was removed. The stink from the sodden scaly hide that was suddenly exposed to the air and sun was horrid, but the dragons quickly discovered their joy at the greater freedom of movement. They started flaming each other up and down, and when Hiccup asked Toothless if they should intervene, he just grunted and shrugged it off as them hardening their scales and warding off anything rank.

Wood was gathered and funeral pyres were constructed in record time, thanks to some draconic help. The entire village gathered to send off Stoick, and after Stoick's family and close friends said their piece in wishing him farewell, Hiccup felt queasy as he, torch in hand, worked in concert with Skullcrusher's gentle trickle of fire to light the pyre. Stoick was the first dragon rider to be sent beyond, and Hiccup knew in his gut that a new tradition had been started.

For the first time since dragons befriended Vikings on Berk, the air was rent by hundreds of mourning wails that sent shivers down his spine. Stoick was well-loved, and while this was a sad moment, Hiccup smiled at the sight of so many gathered to pay their respects to such a great man.

After a respectful period of silence, Hiccup gulped in trepidation but stood his ground as the passage of chiefdom was officially recognized. Gothi dipped her fingers into the blackened ash of Stoick's pyre to draw the rune of leadership on Hiccup's forehead to make it official. It was a somber occasion, but the undaunted cheer of the Viking spirit prevailed when Gobber shouted, "Long live the chief!" and everyone shouted their approval.

"Oh, don't ya worry," Gobber said quietly to Hiccup. "Ya ain't the first lad who was made chief a little sooner than expected, if ya know what I mean. I got yer back"

Hiccup forced a smile and said, "Thanks, Gobber. I can't put into words how grateful I am to have a friend and mentor like you."

Gobber chuckled. "My pleasure, chief."

Hiccup looked at him and said, "You don't have to call me that."

Gobber grinned down at him. "If ya say so, laddie."

* * *

 **A/N:  
** Thanks for reading and thank you Colorful Crayola for being my beta buddy.

I hope ya liked my take on this part of the movie where Toothless goes all Super Saiyan and gives Drago's Bewilderbeast the smack-down. The story ain't done yet, though; there's two or three chapters left. I still got something for ya. Let's just say that the body count is subject to change. Bwahahahahahaaaa- *COUGH!* *GASP!* Gah, I still can't do a proper evil laugh.

I'll have to fall back to a 2-week posting schedule. I've fallen behind recently and need to catch up again.

Dragonrider's Fury, glad you were really confused at the end of the last chapter - that makes two of us. :P Astrid would find me and kick me in the nards if I even thought of killing off her dragon, but I felt obliged to taunt you with it.


	27. Rekindled

**Rekindled**

Tord found Hiccup near the edge of a cliff, accompanied by only a single dragon whose posture made it clear that he was there for no other reason than to support his rider. The Vikings had already burned their dead, and the pyres had turned ashen cold, so he was initially surprised to see another pyre here. As he drew a little closer, a niggling suspicion was confirmed when he saw the body through the flames.

"I find myself conflicted," Tord said as he approached, hobbling through the aches in his legs from straddling a dragon's neck for so long. "I wouldn't stand to see a righteous man burned instead of buried, but burning is a show of respect in your eyes. So, you're showing respect to the man who found great pleasure in making others suffer and die?"

Hiccup didn't even look back. He only shrugged. "Tord, on the flight over, you mentioned a man who was possessed by Legion."

"Yes," Tord said, unsure where this was going.

Hiccup licked his lips and said, "You said that Legion was forced out. What happened to the man after that?"

Tord took another step to stand by Hiccup, on the far side of Toothless, and studied the flames, trying to recall. "Ah!" He snapped his fingers. "He was found calm, sane, clothed, and in his right mind. He was sent home to live a normal life again." Suspicious, he asked, "Why do you ask?"

He followed Hiccup's gaze to the pyre and frowned. Hiccup shrugged. "Just curious," he said.

Tord scowled. "There is no parallel, here." Hiccup opened his mouth to speak, but Tord cut him off. "Take it as a lesson on personal responsibility. Drago made his decision. Your guilt is wasted on him."

He could tell that Hiccup didn't agree, but no response was given and he allowed silence to fall over them, punctuated only by the crackling of the flames. There was a reason Tord was looking for Hiccup, but it didn't feel right to leave things hanging like that, so he said, "Congratulations on your new position as chief."

Hiccup turned to face him and frowned. He had been pronounced as the new chief earlier that day only because his father died.

Tord held up placating hands and said, "That was hastily spoken. I didn't mean it that way. Sorry."

"It's alright," Hiccup said as he turned and took a few steps towards the edge of the cliff. He dropped down to sit with his legs dangling over and patted the grassy bluff next to him, but Tord took an uncomfortable look at Toothless and allowed himself to only drift a step closer.

Trying to salvage the awkward situation, he said, "I thought you Vikings did your funeral pyres on ships. Push 'em out to sea and shoot fiery arrows to light it up."

Hiccup chuckled at that. "A common misconception. You ever try shooting a flaming arrow? The flame almost always whiffs out in flight. And even if the sea is absolutely calm and still, the fire would burn only so far down and you'd be left with… a mess. Then that mess drifts back to shore and you'd have to clean up that mess. Besides, ships take a _lot_ of time to build, and we Vikings sure love sailing." He smiled. "Well, before we started riding dragons everywhere."

"Point there," Tord conceded. "Never thought about that." He waited for Hiccup to say something, but when that never happened, he cleared his throat and said, "Gobber explained that hospitality has been extended to me, what is expected of me, and the punishments for breaking hospitality."

Hiccup nodded without peeling his eyes from the sea. "It's a formality. Our victory today was a result of your contribution. I would like to call you a friend, but I feel our differing ways of life would…" he paused in thought, "not make that easy."

There was a long moment of silence. Tord's Nightmare, Intrepid, crept in closer and nosed him to the edge. He eventually sat down near Hiccup, on the far side from Toothless, but he kept his legs on solid ground. "What of her?" he asked, gesturing to Intrepid. "Is she still my dragon?"

"Who?" Hiccup asked.

"Intrepid," Tord specified. He then saw the grin Hiccup was trying and failing to conceal at having lured him into using the dragon's name. "Cheeky smart-ass."

Hiccup chuckled at that. His face turned more somber as he said, "I cannot give what I don't possess, and I don't own Intrepid any more than I own you. The oath you two took for each other has been fulfilled. She says she is glad she chose to partner with you to fly over here and fight Drago, but she has hatchlings back at her home, so she's naturally eager to reunite with them."

Another lengthy silence stretched out. Tord broke it by asking, "Would there be some other means to take me back to that glacial island? Now that Drago is dead, I can return to my men and sail back to my homeland with them." At a raised eyebrow from Hiccup, he said, "I wouldn't be able to slide right back into my position as admiral, but with the dead avenged, and considering my standing with the clergy, inviting me to sail with them would be," he paused, thinking of how to phrase it, "mutually beneficial. With tempers cooled off, I won't be in any danger from them. Well, not any that I can't handle, at least."

"Will you continue your campaigns against dragons?" Hiccup asked.

"Well, we don't see dragons down on the mainland, what with the vast expanse of open sea containing them up here. I…" Tord faltered. He wasn't sure how Hiccup would react to any response to that question. That black devil sitting by his side was very perceptive and Tord figured that any attempt at deception would no doubt hinder more than help him.

He knew there was a very real possibility that he would be killed or forced to live the rest of his days on Berk despite his critical role in taking down Drago. In any case, he was content, his honor restored before God and men, now that Drago was dead. He felt like he could face any future knowing that he was righteous once again.

Eventually, Tord slowly said, "I see. Placing myself in your boots, I-"

"I would help you either way," Hiccup said, cutting him off, "so that was an unfair question. Sorry. You really did save my life, and I must admire your courage for riding a dragon in spite of your upbringing and beliefs."

Tord stared long and hard at Hiccup's face. "You jest," he said. The boy was toying with him, it was the only explanation. Hiccup's loyalty was to himself, his dragons, and his tribe, so he naturally would not aid someone who may come back to harm him. Tord could assure Hiccup that he had a lot to think about and he couldn't see himself waging war against the dragon-loving heathens after all he's been through, and maybe dragons weren't really the devils he assumed them to be. He could spew forth platitudes until the cows come home, they would be empty and Hiccup would know it.

Hiccup shook his head. "Gobber said he and Spitelout can oversee recovery around here. We'll rest tonight, but I'd like to go back tomorrow, pay my final respects to the Dragon King. Mom wants to grab some things from her old home as she's going to live here, now. You can come with us, and Intrepid says she'd be happy to fly you there. I've got a saddle that will make the flight more comfortable for both of you."

Tord flicked his eyes to the Monstrous Nightmare next to him and unconsciously stroked her snout. He then turned to Hiccup and took a deep breath, trying to keep his feelings in check, and asked, "Even if you let me live here on Berk, it would still be a terrible sentence, being surrounded by so many hostile heathens. You and your tribe would never be able to fully trust me whether I am here or abroad. Do you Hooligans make a habit of taunting people before you imprison or execute them?"

Hiccup vigorously shook his head. "No!" He swallowed and said more softly, "That's not who I am. Toothless reminded me of that, today. I will get you back to Dragon Sanctuary to rejoin your crew, and if need be, I'd take you to a port so you can secure passage home. I don't want to be the kind of person who can just watch others suffer like…" he faltered and gestured to Tord. "Sorry, I didn't mean it like that."

Tord waved it off nonchalantly. "There's a time for all things. A time to sow, and a time to reap." He held Hiccup in a stare. "A time of war and a time of peace. A man in a time of peace who behaves as if he's in a war is labeled as a murderer and a psychopath. A man in a time of war who behaves as if he's in a time of peace is a naive fool."

Toothless snarled at that and Tord jumped in alarm. He lost his balance and teetered over the edge of the cliff, but Intrepid extended a wing to pull him back. Fighting to control his shallow gasping at the sudden shock and fear of having almost fallen to his death, he hastily started to walk away, saying, "Sorry, I wasn't trying to call you naive or foolish." Hiccup was reprimanding his dragon for giving such a scare, but Tord needed to remove himself from the situation.

Hiccup shot up to his feet and took a step with his mouth open, but he stopped himself and let Tord go. Instead, he quietly said to his dragon, "I wouldn't deny such wisdom, either."

Toothless nuzzled him and wrapped his tail around to flick the prosthetic tailfin in front of him, one of the many extras Hiccup had made so his dragon would never be flightless. To Hiccup, it used to be a guilty reminder of how he had hurt the dragon who became his friend, but Toothless had corrected his thinking to be reminded of how that was the start of a beautiful thing.

 _{Don't let this strange land-strider with his strange gods tell you what is right and wrong. If he shot me down and found me in the forest, instead of you, I would be dead, and dragons would still be burning down your wooden caves.}_

Hiccup looked back at the wisps of smoke that were still faintly visible from homes that were hit by stray dragonfire, reminders of the battle that recently took place. He then flicked a glance at Toothless and a wry smile crept onto his face. "I smell smoke."

 _{You know what I mean, Firefly!}_

Hiccup grinned wolfishly at his dragon. "Do I?"

The dragon gave his rider a flat stare. _{If we're degrading to silly nonsense, you can go straight to your wooden cave right now to sleep or I will lay on top of you right here. You're tired. I'm tired. We're all tired.}_

Hiccup took one last look back at the pyre that was now more ashen coal than anything else. "Yeah, I suppose you're-" he yawned loudly, "right."

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Eret, son of Eret, greatest dragon trapper alive, sat on a grassy bluff overlooking Berk's harbor, watching the sky begin to lighten before the sun would peek over the horizon. For the moment, he wanted nothing more than to be alone, to have some time to chew the cud.

If anything, he was relieved that he was accepted on Berk for the most part. Soon after taking down Drago, Hiccup had vouched for Eret's character and change of heart from his dragon trapper ways before the tribe's councilmen. Apparently, the handful of dragons from that flight from Valka's dragon sanctuary also threw in their thoughts.

Gobber had explained to Eret that he had been granted hospitality by the Hooligan tribe. Eret watched from afar as Stoick and the other Vikings and dragons were sent off, feeling very uncomfortable and out of place. He had eaten with the rest of the tribe last night to celebrate their victory and new chief, though he had to force himself not to squirm with how many strangers surrounded him. Many of them knew he was a dragon trapper his whole life. He felt like he didn't belong there, like a thief who was caught rummaging through a home, looking for a coin purse to filch, but instead of receiving justice, he received food and a quiet place to rest.

After Eret joined those who lost a home, settling down to sleep in the Great Hall, he lay in fitful attempts to rest, but whenever he closed his eyes, he watched Grunt die over and over again. In his dreams, he was scolding Grunt for ignoring his pleas to land somewhere and rest, that she would have been fine if she just listened to him. Then, he watched her die. Again. And again. And again.

 _I suppose that's one way humans and dragons are alike,_ he told himself. _A man can never argue with a woman._

His crew - well, _former_ crew - opted to stay in their ship that was permitted to dock in the harbor. When the Timberjack was released from the hold promptly after the battle - something Hiccup saw to personally - it had rubbed its head against Oskar all cat-like. Oskar's knees bent inward and he hunched slightly, leading Unn to explain a previous conversation where he likened the idea of riding a Timberjack to straddling a sharp sword.

As the sky turned black, their dragons flew off to find solid land to sleep on, but as one Hooligan mentioned, "They know your scent and will have no trouble finding you again if they want to. You helped them and us by riding them, and they know it." Despite all that, Eret turned down the invitation to join them for the night. He knew they were changing their ways with the pressure of wanting to maintain their relationships with their dragon companions, but Eret felt like he didn't belong there, either.

After having achieved some fitful scraps of sleep, he lay awake in the predawn hours and gave up trying for any more rest. The noise of dozens of Vikings and dragons snoring drove him to go for a walk. Hence, him sitting on the bluff, alone, churning his thoughts around.

He felt… a lot of things, but he had no clue how he was _supposed_ to feel. His father was a dragon trapper. His grandfather was a dragon trapper. His great-grandfather was a dragon trapper. His great-great-grandfather was a widely respected dragon slayer who learned that live dragons were worth much more than the sum of their dead parts. Eret had spent his entire life trapping dragons and selling them off, mainly to Drago.

It all counted for nothing, now.

"Greatest dragon trapper alive my bloody arse," he grumbled.

He had always scoffed at slave traders, saying that they were less-than-human filth for treating people like animals. Now, no matter how much he wanted to believe anything else, he was that less-than-human filth for treating people like animals because _dragons_ were people. How many families were torn apart for profit? How many hatchlings perished because their parents were plucked up and taken away?

 _What would Grunt say if she saw all that I had done to her fellow dragons?_ He couldn't help but ask himself.

Eret suddenly stiffened at the sound of heavy footsteps behind him. A deep breath rumbled out and wafted across the back of his neck and he relaxed. He didn't have to turn to know who was staring out over his shoulder.

"Skullcrusher," he casually said. He knew he was in no danger. It was hard to suppress the instinct developed over a lifetime to jump up, turn around, pull out a weapon and fight, but he forced himself to remain seated. Skullcrusher had recently lost a close friend, his rider, so he was probably seeking someone to commiserate with.

The densely muscled dragon took the last step to the edge of the bluff. A plume of mist shot out as the dragon let out a hard exhale. The furled wings sounded like sails whipping in the wind as he casually tossed them up and down, stretching out the wing arms. Thick sea-green plates of carapace armor rattled as he swung his horned head over to stare at Eret with unblinking eyes. Eret held the stare for a while, but he grew uncomfortable and looked off into the distance.

"Don't mind me," he said. "I'm just grumbling and moping."

Skullcrusher followed his gaze down the length of the clifftops, down to where the Bewilderbeast stood not many hours past.

The silence felt tense and uncomfortable, so to fill the void, Eret said, "I don't know what to do with myself anymore, big guy. I spent my whole life trapping dragons, and now I suddenly changed careers, gave away my ship, helped kill my employer, and got my friend killed." He gave a wry grin. "Not the best business strategy, eh?"

The dragon let out a low, rumbling chortle.

"And speaking of business strategies, has someone ever told Hiccup how insane he is?" Eret couldn't figure out why he suddenly felt so talkative around this dragon, Maybe it was to distract himself from that fact that he had no home, no friends, no job… nothing. "I mean, he has five _hundred_ of his enemies neatly tucked away on some random glacier and he wants to bring them seasoned and cured meats and vegetables to ward off scurvy?! This goes far beyond the deal he had made with them to secure the freedom of the dragons they had trapped. What kind of person gives aid to those who want to kill him and all he holds dear?"

Skullcrusher's gaze shifted over towards the chief's home, formally Stoick's, now Hiccup's.

Eret followed the stare and said with a roll of his eyes, " _That_ guy, apparently." After another uncomfortably long silence stretched out, he said, "You miss Stoick, don't you? I suppose we've both endured some loss recently."

The dragon crooned and nodded his head in a distinctly human way that made Eret stare. He was certain he'd never get used to that sort of thing.

"Was he a good master to you?"

The dragon snorted and stomped a foot. Eret instinctively jumped up and had his two short swords out. After a moment of nothing beyond staring, he slowly put them away and tried to figure out what upset the dragon so much. "Ah," he said, "Stoick wasn't your master, right. Old dog, new tricks."

Skullcrusher gave him a flat stare.

Eret felt slightly offended. "Hey, I'm new to all this, so quit squeezing my balls, alright? I get it, not master, but a friend, accomplice, whatever." He settled back down to sit by the bluff again. "For how much it sounds like an empty platitude since I never knew the man, or you, I'm sorry for your loss."

The dragon let out a rumbling trill and nosed at Eret's shoulder. Though he was deaf to the dragon that apparently could talk, he still got the message: _and I'm also sorry for your loss._

Skullcrusher suddenly went rigid. He looked at Eret, then across the village, then to Eret, then to some far-off formation that looked like a gladiator arena, then at Eret again. He spun around and took off, spreading his wings and going airborne in a single bound.

"Well," he said to the empty air around him, "That was random."

He continued to sit there, staring out over the harbor and sea, trying to figure out where to go next in life. There was a very real possibility he could be inducted into the tribe. In fact, it was almost a done deal. Settle down, cast nets for a living, maybe go on hunting trips, marry a woman, have some children running around and getting into any and all forms of trouble conceivable…

Eret snorted. "Yeah, right," he quietly said to himself. He still had a thirst for the open seas that has not yet been sated. He yearned for the salty wind whipping at his face. Daily voyages a few leagues out and back would make him feel like a penned up wolf that was used to freely roaming the forest and hunting for himself.

A splash nearby drew Eret's attention to a large ripple in the harbor. A moment later, a Nadder burst out from the water in an explosion of motion, flying straight up for a moment before leveling off. The dragon tilted its head to the side and a waterfall trickled between the fish clenched in its maw. A couple flicks of the snout and mid-air bites sent them down the hatch before another dive for more. That was a mirror image of how Grunt had fed on the way over.

Eret let out a sigh.

Unn kept his dragon. Noam kept his dragon. Oskar lost his dragon, who apparently had some hatchlings to attend to, but he still ended up with the Timberjack. By Odin's beard, even Tord of all people kept his dragon!

Eret let out another sigh. It just wasn't fair.

A blast of wind from his left drew his attention and he sprang up as Skullcrusher suddenly shot his wings out from a downward plummet to land with a delicate grace that didn't seem to fit such a large creature.

"Wee, that was fun," came the voice of a girl from the dragon's back. The voice was given a body when she slid down the extended wing, red hair whipping in the wind, to land spritely on the ground.

"Sheesh, give me a heart attack, big guy," Eret groused at the dragon. He turned to the girl, staring, trying to guess her age. Maybe ten? "Hi," he said, uncertain of the situation. "Aren't you a bit young to be riding a dragon?"

The girl rolled her eyes and stared at Skullcrusher's for a moment. "I've been riding dragons for over three years," she said. "Besides, I'm twelve, now, so if I'm old enough to be married, I can certainly ride a dragon!"

Eret held up his hands placatingly. "Alright, alright, calm down, I meant no offense. I don't think I've met you. I'm-"

"Wolf!" the girl joyfully declared.

Eret was taken aback. "Wolf?" he asked in shock.

"That's the name Skullcrusher gave you because you like to be alone, but you also like to hunt with a small pack, but you don't deal with large crowds that well." At Eret's befuddled look, she extended a hand and said, "I'm Butterfly."

Eret chewed on that for a moment as he numbly shook her hand. "Your parents named you… Butterfly?"

At his confused look, Butterfly shook her head and said, "Well, they named me Tofa. I should say Daddy named me because Mommy died on my birthday. But Skullcrusher named me Butterfly after Daddy died and I like it!" She studied his ever-confused look for a moment and nonchalantly said, as if it explained everything, "I'm a dragon whisperer. Skullcrusher and I go way back."

Eret suddenly noticed that the dragon was wearing a saddle, which was absent before he flew off. "Ah, he's your dragon" he surmised. "Wait," he said, confused, "I thought he was Stoick's dragon. I guess he was just borrowing Skullcrusher for a while?"

The girl giggled. "Not my dragon, silly! He was Stalwart's." Eret quirked an eyebrow and the girl quickly threw in, "That's Stoick. Anyway, Skullcrusher is _your_ dragon, now."

Eret stared at Skullcrusher. "My… dragon…"

Said dragon spat out a mess of leather from his mouth. Tofa picked it up and held it out to Eret. "Here," she said as if everything was obvious.

Eret numbly took the offering. Leather straps drooped from his hands and he had a growing suspicion of what it was.

"Well, put it on!" she insisted.

Slobber dripped from the leather. Eret looked at the dragon. "That's… just… delightful."

The girl giggled again. "His way of marking you as his own. Most dragons lick their riders, but he figured you wouldn't like having your flesh peeled from your body."

Skullcrusher opened his maw wide and stuck out his tongue to demonstrate that it was rough as gravel and covered in a fine carpet of barbs.

"That's, uhhh, very thoughtful…" Eret said. He still felt like he was in a dream, be it a good one or a bad one. Things didn't quite make sense.

"Well, put it on," Tofa insisted. "You can fly without it, but he really wants to do some fancy flying with you."

"I… what…" Eret fumbled for words. Things started to click into place and he felt his face flush and pulse quicken. "Now wait just a moment!" he demanded, turning to Skullcrusher. "You can't just barge in," he poked a finger to the dragon's snout, "and demand I be your rider and you be my dragon and we fly together and live happily ever after! What, you think you can replace Grunt just like that?"

"Oh, calm down, Wolf," Tofa said. "He's just trying to-"

"I _know_ what he's trying to do!" Eret cut her off, glaring at Skullcrusher. "He's trying to replace her! She was special! A thousand dragons should have died instead of her! I should have been more firm. She was exhausted and I knew it. I should have made her land and rest, threaten her if needed. It's my fault! And now you want to pretend she never existed, to remind me of her every time I see your ugly face? I-"

Eret balled his hand into a fist. His arm shook. Eventually, he closed his eyes, let out his breath through clenched teeth, and forced his fingers to relax.

"Skullcrusher says you can hit him if you want, to relieve your frustration," Tofa said. "He'd hardly feel it anyway."

Eret shook his head. "I…" he forced his breathing to steady. Feeling a great wave of depression, he turned and sat by the bluff, looking out over the sea. "I'm sorry," he eventually said to the dragon who was standing stone-still behind him. "I'm grateful for the gesture."

Tofa said, "Stalwart wasn't the first rider he lost." Eret whipped his head back in surprise. "It's a long story, but he knows how you feel. You've been torn wide-open and time alone will not heal the hurt. The wound will only fester until properly treated. You're both festering and rotting and stinking in your losses. You two need each other."

"I don't plan on staying here," Eret said. "I don't know… I don't…" he sighed. "I need to get lost and find myself again."

He felt the dragon's head lightly rest on his shoulder.

"He wants to get lost with you," Tofa said. "Dragons say that nobody can lose their way quite as efficiently as a land-strider, and you can certainly get lost faster on the wing."

Eret looked up at the dragon, who tilted his head to meet the stare. "I could get us both killed doing something stupid, ya know. We both may die a horrible death trying to take out a dragon trapping operation or something crazy like that."

The dragon rumbled mirthfully. "He's fine with that as long as you don't die first," Tofa said. "He's sick of watching his riders die."

Eret snorted and smiled at that. He hefted the flight harness in his hands and started strapping it around his torso. "Alright, big guy, I can take a hint. You need someone to take care of you. Let's go see Hiccup safely to that dragon sanctuary place and then…" he took a deep breath, "see where the wind takes us."

"Good!" Tofa said excitedly with a clap. "I was hoping you'd accept him! And once you learn to hear dragons, he can tell you everything Grunt shared with him before she died, things she wanted to tell you herself if she could. She figured you two would wind up together, ya know."

Eret had been working on figuring out how to mount up on Skullcrusher, fingers wrapped around an iron ring halfway up and foot braced against the dragon's front knee, when the girl's statement caught his attention and he froze there.

He looked at the dragon, then Tofa, and said, "Wait, what? Grunt gave Skullcrusher some… What, some secret message for me? How? Things happened so fast up there."

Tofa winked. "Let's just say dragons can talk as fast as they can think, and your brain would catch on fire if you tried to keep up."

Eret gave her a hard look, but a smile broke out. "You are a strange one, Tofa Butterfly."

Tofa broke out in a grin. "Thank you, Mr. Wolf sir!"

Motion to the side suddenly caught Eret's attention and he saw someone trying to sneak up on them. He realized with horror that this someone was slender, had a long blond braid, and smelled like fish.

Ruffnut realized she was spotted and started running towards Eret, shouting, "There's my honey bumkin wumpkin! I was looking for you!"

Eret instantly leaped into the saddle, clipped his harness in, and hissed, "Fly! Hurry! Giddyup!"

The dragon snorted and whipped his head back to glare at Eret at that last exclamation. "I'm gonna regret saying that, aren't I?" he asked with a grin.

In an instant, he was over the edge and hanging upside-down from the saddle over the open sea, howling with excitement.

* * *

 **A/N:  
** Thanks for reading and thank you Colorful Crayola for sticking around as my beta buddy! One more chapter to go to wrap things up.

Since most sources I've seen say that HTTYD would have happened in the 900-1000 AD/CE era, just before the crusades, I figured Drago's supply of soldiers for his little conquest mission would be either them or Vikings from the mainland, so I said, "Eh, why not both, just for the fun of it!" And, since I wanted someone from his army to join Hiccup and company, and we already had Vikings present, I ended up having Tord come along. While I had them each play their own hand, it was my goal to have Tord, Hiccup, and Toothless each walk away all the more convinced of their own views (just like any Facebook debate), but I worry that I may have overplayed Tord's pompous piety. Sorry if I caused you to gag in these past few chapters.

Next chapter is the last one. I'll have it up in two weeks.

Dragonrider's Fury, thanks for dropping a line. Yep, a lotta sweeping and mopping before we can go back to dragon racing. That bit with Astrid stringing Hiccup along was one of those things I added on a whim that I couldn't leave out because it just felt _right_. (-:


	28. Returned

**Returned**

Hiccup woke up, but he didn't want to get up. He lay there, enjoying the peaceful moment, wrapped up in a warm cocoon of black scales and wings, blinking away the crusty dried tears on his eyelids. The steady drumming of his dragon's heartbeat and the gentle rush of air with each slow breath was something he wished he could enjoy forever.

Though he figured he'd faint if he ever tried to put it into words, he also enjoyed having Astrid mashed between himself and Toothless. When everyone first mounted up to fly off from Berk, she had insisted on staying behind to watch over Stormfly, but the dragon knew her rider would only stew and simmer. Stormfly literally shoved Astrid out the door with the insistence that watching a dragon sleep was hardly necessary. The more Astrid resisted, the harder Stormfly shoved, heedless of her injuries, and Astrid eventually relented for her dragon's sake.

Hiccup didn't want to wake Toothless or Astrid yet, so he carefully slid out and into the cold air. Even in the night, he could still make out the dark forms of dragons all around. Hookfang, Meatlug, Barf and Belch, Skullcrusher, and Intrepid were clumped up and piled on top of their riders, and the many riderless dragons were still out cold.

The three new riders, formerly Eret's dragon trapper crew, were also somewhere beneath the pile of wings and scales. Unn, who Eret apparently gave away his ship to, had ridden a Nadder in the fight to take down Drago, but while everyone agreed that he was due some reward for his contribution to the victory, the Nadder he rode picked up on his reservations about accepting such a radically new lifestyle and let him be. He and the four other stubborn crewmen were not so willing to instantly change their ways from dragon trappers to some more appropriate line of work.

Hiccup hoped that they would yet learn to change their course in life, but he had learned that change could take some time. The councilmen were dead-set on keeping them at Berk until he returned from his trip to Dragon Sanctuary to properly address the situation, so his first official judgment passed as chief was to have them confined to their ship in the harbor. It was easy enough to enact by having them anchor in open water, and the normal sentries could keep an eye on them without any disruption to the process of recovering from Drago's attack. Since the trappers weren't openly hostile, food, water, and guarded trips to the bathhouse would be available, so their stay would at least be comfortable. Hiccup had promised them that the absolute worst he would allow to happen would be to send them off well-stocked and unharassed.

Eret and his three "converted" trappers-turned-riders had started discussing what they could do with their dragon companions. They still longed for danger and excitement without a tether to a tribe, but they were also more willing to embrace this new view on dragons. Hiccup only hoped that Eret would stick around on Berk for a few days when they got back to offer advice on how to handle the rest of his former crew. At the very least, he wanted to formally acknowledge the sacrifice Eret made in giving away his ship as a desperation gambit to secure four additional dragons and raiders in the fight against Drago. While Eret waved off the loss of the ship as nothing at all, it represented a good deal of monetary value and Hiccup would not allow that loss to go unrequited.

The flight to Dragon Sanctuary was going smoothly so far. This small mountain of an island on which Hiccup and his group had landed was the third and last stop along the way; they were taking their time so the dragons didn't overexert themselves as they recovered from their trials.

What to do with those dragons was a sticky situation. Normally, dragons would be content on their own. Left to their own devices, they would naturally leave humans alone and keep a safe distance, preferring to nest on islands or craggy, mountainous features that would be uninhabitable for humans. However, so many were thralls to Drago for so long that they could not function at all without an alpha to command them. Any encouragement to live their own lives was met with piteous terror and panic. Toothless could plug the hole for the moment, but they couldn't all remain on Berk indefinitely. There was only so much space on the island, only so many animals in the forest to hunt, and only so many fish off the shores to catch.

 _One day at a time_ , Hiccup told himself. His father always told him that a chief would have to plow and sow a single row in the present day without fretting over the thousand more to come. Today, his only task was to revisit Dragon Sanctuary, pay his respects to Dragon King, help Valka carry anything back that she wanted to keep, and hope that most of the dragons would be content to live on their own.

Well, the more immediate need was to relieve himself. A copse of trees looked very inviting and he decided that one of them needed some watering.

With his immediate needs taken care of, he wandered over to sit on a protruding stone that overlooked the rocky mountainside and across the sea beyond. He didn't feel tired, but it must have been early because he had to relieve himself a couple more times before the sky started to brighten with pre-dawn light.

 _Note to self: no more than a sip of water before sleep no matter how thirsty I am._

A weight slapped down on his shoulder and he nearly jumped out of his skin. He cast his bewildered eyes all around, and what he saw made him slump.

"Good morning, son!"

Hiccup looked over at his father sitting next to him and said in annoyance, "Gods, I hate these lucid dreams, where I feel like I'm waking up over and over again. I swear I never sleep well when that happens. Two nights ago, I dreamed of Toothless killing Stormfly a hundred times over. Then, last night, the dragons we rescued raided us and we were forced to kill them all. And now…" he gestured to his father, "this!"

Stoick frowned. "Well, I love you too," he grumbled.

"Sorry," Hiccup said. "I really mean it, Dad, I really am so sorry. I love you. I really do, and I always have, but this is only a dream. You're not real."

Stoick twitched an eyebrow. "Not real?"

Hiccup threw his hands in the air. "Of course not! Drago used his Bewilderbeast to make Toothless shoot a fireball at me. You jumped in the way and saved me. You… I…"

Tears welled up in his eyes. He took a shuddering breath and wailed, "I watched you _die_! I… I…" he took a deep breath and closed his eyes, "I helped build and light your pyre to send you off to Valhalla. I miss you and I never showed you the respect you deserve and the last thing I ever said to you was-" A thought suddenly came to him. "Oh, gods, are you a Haugbui? Did we leave your soul restless? Did I-"

Stoick put a finger to his Hiccup's lips. "Shh, calm down there, son."

Hiccup took a deep breath to steady himself and said, "This _is_ just a dream, right?"

Stoick raised an eyebrow. "If I told you one way or another, would that convince you, or would you assume a figment of your dream is trying to convince you that you're not dreaming this?"

Hiccup stared ahead as he had no proper response to that. They both knew the answer to that question. Well, to be more specific, he and the figment of his imagination knew.

"I keep turning it over in my head," Hiccup said. "You told me to stay on Berk, but I flew off on you. You told me that men who kill without reason cannot be reasoned with. You told me to stay in the air and away from Drago, but I put myself in that situation and-" he sniffled, "and you paid the price for my foolishness. If only I died and you lived-"

"Stop right there!" was Stoick's sharp reprimand. A moment of silence followed before he took a deep breath and patted the ground next to him. He waited with eternal patience until Hiccup reluctantly sat down. Finally, when his son had settled down, he said, "Stubbornness is one thing that runs in the family. Don't think for a moment that you invented it." Hiccup exhaled quietly and sat there, so Stoick said, "It wasn't your fault, son."

"But-"

Stoick cut him off with a look. "Hiccup, you remember the Greenbelly tribe on one of those Southern islands?"

"Of course," Hiccup said, "You know they have some dragon riders nowadays. As I recall, Hauk, that Timberjack rider, challenged you to arm wrestling at the first intertribal Thawfest games, but he lost." He smirked. "Barely."

Stoick scoffed at that. "I was making it _look_ like a struggle. Good for relations." At a sideways look from his son, he cleared his throat and said, "Anyway, you remember them talking about their dogs they use to maneuver their herds? They said that the dogs performed only as well as they were disciplined. A dog with lax discipline is more of a liability than an asset. He can know what a command means, but he needs the discipline to immediately obey."

"I get it, and you're right." Hiccup said. "I'm the undisciplined dog."

Stoick nodded and said, "And who gets the blame if an undisciplined herding dog performs poorly and scatters the cattle to the winds? The dog's owner, of course! His trainer!" Stoick let out a sigh. "Hiccup, I want you to know that I don't blame you. Not one little bit. You behaved as I had raised you to behave. I was too focused on trying to turn you into an ax-and-hammer Viking, a mirror image of me, that I neglected to raise you properly into the man you were meant to be. Looking back, it's no surprise you did what you did."

Hiccup looked at his father with wide eyes. "But you lost Mom when I was an infant and you were preoccupied with the whole tribe to oversee and then there were the dragon raids and-"

Stoick waved it off. "Excuses! A Viking hammers the world into shape against the anvil of his will, not the other way around. The burden of blame is mine to bear, not yours, and I gladly bear it in peace." He placed a firm hand on Hiccup's shoulder. "Accept it."

Hiccup opened his mouth to protest, but he closed it. Eventually, he glumly said, "Yes sir."

They sat in companionable silence for a while, looking out over the sea. A stiff wind slowly blew the clouds out from overhead, revealing the stars above.

"I sure know how to make beautiful scenery for my dreams," Hiccup said. "I've always liked the night."

Stoick sighed and said, "Drago would have attacked Berk eventually, when he built up his dragon army larger and had a better feel for the situation. In his eyes, you were just another obstacle to deal with. Me, though? Oh, I humiliated him! He _hated_ me with a passion! He had all the pieces in place to secure victory, but watching me die made him more drunk than Gobber on Snoggletog. His overconfidence and haste were his undoing." Hiccup gave Stoick a shocked look as he worked the logic over in his mind. "As I always say, a chief plans his next move with-"

"With the next five in mind," Hiccup finished for his father.

He still didn't like the thought, even though he recognized the logic behind it. After Stoick died, Drago let Hiccup live only because his head was so clouded from the rush of killing the one man who was actually a threat. When he took all the dragons on Berk to add to his dragon army, everyone was so distraught that only the thought of Stoick having died in vain was able to spur them into fighting back.

Stoick nodded. "A chief protects his own. I got Drago good and mad at me, and at the last moment, I realized how to set him up for the fall." He gave Hiccup a hard stare. "I would give my life a thousand times more to protect my son _and_ my people."

Hiccup swallowed and nodded. He didn't want to admit it, but thinking of it in light of Stoick protecting his tribe rather than his foolish son made it easier to accept.

"Besides," Stoick gave a wink, "if you didn't dash off and make me go chasing all around Midgard to find you, I may have never learned that my wife was still alive before I died."

Hiccup smiled at that. "She said it was better to find her love and lose him forever than to have never found him at all." He paused and frowned in silent contemplation. "Mom also thinks your death is her fault." At a surprised grunt from his father, he said, "She hid from you for twenty years and was found by chance. She didn't have the courage to go back and face you again." He swallowed. "And when you insisted that we all pick up and flee to Berk rather than face off against Drago and his army at Dragon Sanctuary, she insisted we stay, so…"

Stoick scoffed. "She knows better, son. You stop going around saying it's _your_ fault and she'll stop trying to tell you it's _hers_. If you won't stop beating yourself up for your own sake, nor for my sake, then do it for _her_!" He smiled as Hiccup's jaw hung open at such an implication and said, "That's an order, son."

Hiccup smiled. During this past week, spending time with the mother he never knew was something he treasured. Thinking in terms of what would be best for her made it easier to give a genuine smile at his father and say, "Yes _sir_!"

"Atta boy!" Stoick clapped his son on the shoulder. They both stood. "I hope I was able to help. You need your mind clear and focused as you... " he paused in thought. "You're flying to Dragon Sanctuary, so what _are_ you going to do there?"

Hiccup shrugged nonchalantly. "I wanna pay my respects to Dragon King one last time and properly burn her body. She's very large, but," he gestured to the uncountable freed dragons, "we have a _lot_ of fire. I really hope most of them can live on their own."

"Anything else?" Stoick asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Mom wants to grab some of her stuff," Hiccup said.

Stoick nodded solemnly. "She said she still has the wedding ring I gave her."

"She mentioned that, and I was honored that she offered to give it to me to give to Astrid."

Stoick smiled. "Good. And you know where my ring and ceremonial sword are busily collecting dust. I'd give them to you myself, but…" he smiled as he spread his hands out.

Hiccup cast a sideways look at his father and said, "Gods, I really want to believe this is real."

"So do I, son."

Hiccup snorted at that. "See any dragons in Valhalla?"

Stoick laughed jovially at that. "Would you believe any answer a figment of your imagination gave you?"

"Dad!" Hiccup whined. "Now you're just taunting me."

Stoick smirked. "Maybe this is you taunting _yourself_?"

Hiccup glared at his father in mock indignation, which made his laughter even more boisterous.

Hiccup sighed. "I hope Thor didn't give you any trouble for Toothless and me sparing the Bewilderbeast. He made it clear he wanted us to kill him."

"Ha!" Stoick laughed at that. "Oh, Thor was upset alright! He stormed in and threw a table at me!" At Hiccup's horrified stare, he nonchalantly waved it off. "We had a little tussle. Good times."

Hiccup chuckled and turned back to the copse of trees. "Give me a moment. One of these trees looks thirsty."

"Again, so soon?" Stoick called out from behind.

Hiccup said over his shoulder, "I musta drank too much water last night."

He walked over and started to relieve himself. As he did so, the tree he was watering started to vibrate and rumble. The entire island shook. Hiccup fell on his back and suddenly felt very groggy. He flailed his arms around and felt warm scales.

His dragon was grumbling.

It was a dream, he realized, one in which he relived himself many times over.

He moaned, "Oh, gods, I have a sinking feeling…" he rubbed his thighs together. They were warm and wet. The only consolation was that he had taken the time to discard his leather flying gear for the night.

Toothless rolled away and rose to all fours as Hiccup groaned and strapped on his prosthetic foot to go wash his pants at the beach. The dragon looked down at his rider's urine-soaked britches and gave a gummy grin. Astrid had an unabashed smirk on her face.

"Say one word about this," Hiccup said as he started towards the beach, shaking a fist in mock threat. "I _dare_ you."

Toothless held up a wing to act as a privacy curtain. "Thanks, Bud. I'm glad Gobber made me pack some extra undies for this trip."

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* * *

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Toothless let out a little snort and informed his rider that they were drawing near to their destination. Up ahead, through the light snowfall, he could see the glacial island.

The black dragon felt around with his sensor lobes, allowing them to wiggle into various positions to probe for the projected thoughts of any creatures ahead. He could sense the hundreds of land-striders gathered on one side of the island, huddled against the sheer glacial walls. On the other side of the mountain, primal wisps of uncoordinated projections sparked out with powerful presence of mind above most dragons-

He roared in anger and thrust his wings to surge forward. The icy wind whipped past and Firefly squeaked an inquiry even as he hastily flipped down the eye protector so he was completely covered. Toothless projected his sight for his rider as he dove down at the beach to confront his enemy.

The great sea dragon was there. In front of him was the corpse of his fallen adversary, white scales stained with blood. He was ramming the body, tumbling it across the ground. He lowered his chin and gave a great heave to roll the body onto its back, the momentum sending it flopping onto its side, partially submerged in the water.

This felt wrong; everything about the situation felt like an insult to the female great sea dragon and all who died because of the male. He had come back here to take her place, her nest, her flock, her dragons.

Toothless felt his blood boil.

He let out his banshee shriek as a ball of pure death took form in his mouth. Firefly grunted in agreement. This threat would not be allowed to live!

The sea dragon looked up and saw his death approaching. He flopped onto his back and stretched himself out, exposing his neck and belly, submitting to his superior. He still projected no cohesive thoughts, but his passive hum was ablaze with fear and regret. It mattered not. Allowing this monster to live was a mistake that was about to be remedied.

 _{HALT! PLEASE SPARE HIM!}_

Toothless's slit pupils widened in surprise and the icy wind almost blinded him. Each dragon's thought projections carried a unique sort of scent, and Toothless recognized the signature of that desperate plea. He could not believe it, but he could not deny what he knew beyond any doubt.

The female was alive!

Already, his throat and mouth burned with the intensity of the blast he was preparing. In that instant, he was already igniting his fireball to send it off, so he quickly twisted mid-dive and faced the water. The fireball was let loose and impacted the surface, tearing it apart and blasting a geyser high into the air. The shockwave hit him unprepared and he tumbled about, but he was able to regain control of his flight before smacking into the water. A quick twist and flap of his wings landed him on the beach by the two sea dragons.

He roared at the male in frustration at this confusing situation. _{Don't move or I'll yet kill you!}_ The great sea dragon obeyed and lay limply, letting out a low, rumbling whine.

Firefly voiced his amazement as he was beginning to realize that the female sea dragon lived. They both stared in wonder.

For a long while, there was silence except for the whipping wind and the male's piteous mewling. The other dragons eventually caught up and landed behind Toothless, growling with uncertainty, their fires ready on his command.

Toothless couldn't take it any longer, so he projected to the female great sea dragon the only inquiry he could wrap his mind around. _{How are you not dead? I watched you die!}_

He thought back to that fateful moment when she was toppled over, impaled through the side by the male's tusks, thrown down in a pool of her own blood, and buried under a mountain of ice.

The female hardly moved, but she let out a raspy trill in acknowledgment. _{I LIVE. I TOOK A LONG NAP.}_

At an urging from his rider, Toothless leaped up and flew above the sea dragon, looking at her flank from above. The twin gaping wounds from the male's tusks were still there, but they seemed to have healed much more than what was reasonable for even a dragon. He and his rider exchanged confused looks.

Uncertainly, Toothless asked, _{The injuries have healed? How? And how did you not die that day?}_

 _{IT TAKES TIME FOR A CREATURE AS LARGE AS ME TO FULLY DIE. AFTER YOU LEFT, TORN FLESH WAS MENDED. PUNCTURED LUNGS WERE RESTORED. I AM WHOLE, BUT I AM STILL VERY WEAK. I DID LOSE A LOT OF BLOOD.}_

From her prone position, she barely twitched her head, but Toothless could tell she was gesturing to where she had stood when she was impaled by the male. Beneath the rubble was a frozen crimson lake.

 _{WOULD YOU PERMIT THE MALE TO MOVE AGAIN? I AM A FISH OUT OF WATER AND ONLY HE IS STRONG ENOUGH TO PUSH ME INTO THE DEPTHS.}_

The male sea dragon was still laying there on his back, whimpering and whining softly. Toothless distractedly complied and commanded him to arise and obey the female. The male rolled to all fours, his whimpering ever-present, and he continued rolling the female into the icy water.

Speaking for both himself and his rider, Toothless had only one question. _{Who helped you if not these land-striders? The rate at which you have healed is far beyond anything I have ever seen.}_

The female slid into the water, and with a few pained groans, she pushed herself down deeper. _{I RECEIVED HELP. I MADE A PROMISE THAT I WOULD REVEAL NO MORE THAN THAT.}_

A speck of motion up in the sky caught Toothless' attention. It was a snowflake, but it wasn't. There was a spark of purple light, and with a flash of fire and smoke, the snowflake was gone. Toothless looked back at the spot where the female sea dragon vanished beneath the waves, then at the spot in the sky where the snowflake seemed to have vanished from existence. He would have asked if that thing was what helped her, but he already knew the answer, and he knew that he would get nothing more.

He looked at the male sea dragon that was now sliding into the water. _{What about him? I don't trust him at all.}_

 _{SUCH IS UNDERSTANDABLE. HE HAS KNOWN ONLY EVIL SINCE THE DAY HE CRACKED HIS EGG, SO THAT IS ALL HE HAS DONE.}_

Toothless huffed in annoyance. _{Is that supposed to convince me to spare him?}_

The only visible sign of the female was a stream of large bubbles bursting at the surface, but her presence of mind could still be felt. _{HE WILL AID ME IN MY RECOVERY. HIS MIND IS THAT OF A HATCHLING, BUT I WILL RAISE HIM UP. I HAVE LEARNED HOW TO TAKE AND HOW TO GIVE, HOW TO HATE AND HOW TO LOVE. I WILL TEACH THIS MALE JUST AS THE DRAGON SAVIOR HAS TAUGHT ME, AND WE WILL TEACH OUR OFFSPRING.}_

 _{And what about these dragons I brought here? They have seen so much evil from land-striders that they cannot nest with me, but they crave an alpha to follow.}_

 _{WOULD YOU WATCH THEM WHILE I FEED? I FEEL LIKE I COULD EAT A FEW WHALES AND STILL BE HUNGRY.}_

 _{I cannot take them all back with me. My flock is large enough as is.}_

Her response carried the tone of one declaring a well-known fact. _{I WILL BE THEIR ALPHA. THE ALPHA PROTECTS THEM ALL.}_

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* * *

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Hiccup stared at the lapping waves in dumb silence, standing next to his dragon who was doing the same. His mind was still spinning. Everyone was shocked. Hookfang was cawing like a crow. Tuffnut was clucking like a chicken.

Dragon King was alive! She lived!

And now, she was gone.

"Alright, I'll ask since nobody else is," Snotlout said. "Did anybody else see what I think I saw?"

"Yes," Valka said, her eyes sparkling, "Dragon King lives!"

"No, not that," Snotlout said distractedly, staring up at the sky. "There was a purple flash and then a puff of fire. What was that? Anyone? C'mon, Fishlegs, do that thing you always do where you say a lot of words and then someone translates that into something that actually makes sense and we suddenly understand things."

"I, uhhh, it… well…" Fishlegs stuttered.

"Who cares about that!" Astrid cried out. "Toothless said that Dragon King said she was gonna have babies!"

"Babies?!" Ruffnut squealed.

"The Bewilderbeast…" Eret started to say in disbelief.

Tuffnut snorted. "Yeah, Bewilderbeast babies. Everyone hold onto your-"

"Bewilder-babies?!" Ruffnut cried out in an octave not normally reserved for speech. "They're gonna make babies!" She turned to Eret. "Just like _us_!"

Eret was rambling about allowing his best friend's killer to live when he noticed Ruffnut's feral eyes on him and he started creeping backward. She lunged at him and he ducked under his dragon, prompting a game of "Grab Eret's leggings". As they chased each other around Skullcrusher, Hiccup, with Toothless on his heels, broke it up with a reprimand of, "Hey, we still have to take care of things here."

Already, several soldiers from the army had appeared around the corner of the mountain to see what the commotion was about. Hiccup strode up to them, flanked by a thousand dragons, with his palms held up, and said, "I come with peaceful intents."

As anticipated, they trembled in fear, being outnumbered by fire-spewing dragons three-to-one. "Yeah," he said as he made his way into the crowd that parted before him in bewilderment, "we actually have some cured meats and herbs to ward off scurvy. That is," he gave a significant look at the mountain, "if you've kept to your word and made no attempt to scale the mountain to get at the hatchlings while we were gone."

Already, some dragons had flown up the mountain to see their hatchlings, Tord's Nightmare among them, rubbing snouts and mingling with the few who had stayed behind.

Toothless pressed his nose into Hiccup's hand. _{No hatchlings have been harmed, here, Firefly. These land-striders were far too busy melting ice into water and trying not to freeze to death to get into any mischief.}_

Hiccup nodded. He turned back to the soldiers. "It seems you boys have behaved yourselves, so we're all set. We made a detour on the way here and saw a small fleet of ships headed your way. It seems those you sent off have found some ports and hired some help. Your rescue should be here in a… few…" he drifted off as he noticed all eyes shifted to one man in particular.

Tord stepped forward.

"Te futueo et draco tuum! Fututus et mori in igni!" one of the soldiers shouted angrily, but he was silenced by someone who appeared to be his superior. Hiccup rolled his eyes. He had learned a few Latin words in the past, but he was hopeless to keep up with anything these men were saying.

Fortunately, a couple of years ago, when some French traders visited Berk, Hiccup had learned that his dragon could act as a translator of sorts. Since people naturally projected their thoughts when they spoke, even though it was a muddy trickle, Toothless was able to figure out the gist of what was being said.

"So, what are they saying?" Hiccup asked his dragon. "Have we sent Tord to his doom like a rabbit into a pack of Terrors?"

 _{I don't think so. Some want him back as their alpha. Some want to kill him.}_ Toothless continued to study them as they talked, his sensor lobes quivering and twitching to feel things out. A few times, Tord gestured to the thousand dragons scattered about. _{He tried to imply that these dragons would avenge him if he were killed, but they easily saw through that. Still, I think he should be safe. The alphas in this pack want to see him return safely to their nesting grounds so he can be judged by their elders. I think he is special in some way that even those who hate him must acknowledge.}_

As the argument settled down, Hiccup cleared his throat and said, "Tord, I did promise to take you to a port to secure passage home if things are too hostile here. What are your thoughts?"

Tord turned and smiled at Hiccup. "I'll stay with these people. We've decided-"

"That you'll sail back with them and your pope or emperor or whatever back home can pass judgment on you," Hiccup finished for him. "It sounds like they still want to flay you alive, though."

Tord looked shocked. "You understand Latin? And Greek?"

Hiccup grinned. "A few words."

Tord grunted. "I'll be fine. I, uhh, suppose this is goodbye, then" He furtively looked around and drew close to quietly say, "Give Intrepid a rub on the snout for me."

As if on cue, a roar drew everyone's attention upward, where a Monstrous Nightmare dove in and landed next to them, kicking up a cloud of snow. As things settled down again, three dragon hatchlings tumbled down from the Nightmare's back. Many of the soldiers instinctively started to unsheath their weapons before they were reminded that they were literally surrounded by dragons and they really did not want a fight.

"I think you can do that yourself," Hiccup said with a smile.

Tord looked at Intrepid, who nosed her hatchlings forward, but they scurried to hide behind her legs.

"I can't believe I must admit that I actually want to see her again sometime," Tord admitted.

Intrepid trilled, and through Toothless acting as a relay, Hiccup heard her response. _{Tell him that when he returns, if he does not bare his fangs, I will not bare mine.}_

Hiccup smiled and said, "Well, Tord, I think she'd like to see you again, too. She'll respond to peace with peace."

Tord nodded and gave a pat to the dragon's snout. He turned to the other soldiers and said, "Well, I suppose that is that. Let's get the food they brought into a cauldron before we all die to scurvy."

With that, the soldiers took the food the riders offered and departed for their impromptu camp, eager to be separated from so many dragons.

"Sooo..." Astrid said, "I guess we're done here."

Hiccup grinned at her. "You eager to see Stormfly again?"

"You know it!" She looked at Toothless with a grin. "Don't keep me away from my girl."

The dragon tossed his head with a devious smirk and lowered himself so they could hop on.

"I still wanna know what that purple flashy thing was in the sky," Fishlegs said.

Hiccup shrugged. He stood next to his dragon with a hand on the saddle horn and a foot in the stirrup and said, "Maybe it was some strange dragon. Maybe it was the gods putting on a show. It doesn't matter. These dragons will be fine here…" he drifted off as he realized something. Turning to Toothless, he quietly said, "Bud, we should probably stay until Dragon King is done eating."

 _{We can go, Firefly. She is submerged just off the shore to avoid spooking the land-striders here. She currently has the male diving to hunt for deep swimmers as an offering to the dragons, his first of many lessons.}_

Hiccup nodded with a smile. Turning back to everyone else, he said, "Right, then, off we go. Our help is needed on Berk, so let's hurry on back. Eyes on the target, people."

Astrid pulled him down to the ground and mashed her face into the back of his neck to kiss him. "I love it when you talk like that," she whispered in his ear.

"I… Uhhh… you…" Hiccup's legs started to wobble.

Eret walked up and said, "I still can't believe you're just gonna let Tord and all his cronies go."

Hiccup shrugged. "Who, them? Oh, sure, they're relentless and crazy. But us? Ohhh, even moreso. We may be small in numbers, but we have something they _don't_. They have their armies, and they have armadas, but we have our-"

"Blah blah, hope and dragons and peace and love, we get it," Snotlout shouted in annoyance as he hopped on Hookfang's back. "Last one home is a rotten dragon egg!"

"Hey, no fair with the head start!" Tuffnut shouted to the ascending rider and dragon as he joined the jovial scramble to get airborne. He "accidentally" bumped into Hiccup, almost knocking him to the ground were it not for Astrid's quick reflexes.

"Hey, that's your _chief_!" Fishlegs shouted.

Tuffnut looked behind him as he leaped up to his saddle. "Oh, I suppose he is. Ruffnut did it!"

As their Zippleback took off, she shouted, "Did not!"

"Did too!" "Not!" "Too!" "Barf, bit him!" "OW! Belch, bite her!" "OW!"

Astrid hauled Hiccup into the saddle with a smug smile. "I think we'll beat them even if we give them a head start…"

 _{I could sleep here until the next morning and still overtake them.}_

"... but I do miss Stormfly." She gave a devious smirk at Toothless. "I don't think I've seen how fast you can _really_ go."

Toothless wiggled his rump and looked back at Hiccup with excitement.

"Oh, alright," Hiccup said as he hunched down low. An instant later, the world turned into a blur.

* * *

 **A/N:**  
It's over, yaaaay! Thanks for reading! Also, thank you Colorful Crayola for sticking with me as my beta buddy. Go check out her story, "Ask Not the Sparrow", or her works on Transformers, FNaF, and Alien/Predator.

I would like to thank everyone who dropped a line throughout this story. Your feedback, whether on things I did right or what I did wrong, has been immeasurably helpful. I am grateful beyond words for the time the wonderful people of this community take to share their thoughts.

So, where do I go from here? Gosh, I dunno. I suppose I can now watch HTTYD 3. I don't have any specific plot bunnies in mind, so I'll just have to see where the winds take me.


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